Pop-up Books

In this enjoyable, interactive version of the famous fairy tale, Baby Bear is a bully and a brat. Papa and Mama Bear call upon none other than Goldilocks to teach him some manners. And she does. But we’re only halfway through this prequel to “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and the authors have a twist or two for you. They also have delightful pages with flaps and pulls (I like Baby Bear’s moving mouth) and fuzzy tactile touches. Inside jokes abound for older readers, like the bears’ favorite magazine, Vanity Bear.

For an off-beat rendering with novelty formatting, this is just right.

A. Allison

This pop-up put-on treats dragons as if science had confirmed their existence: “Modern scientists had long declared that dragons existed only in stories. But recent fossil discoveries have led them to accept that dragons really existed.”
Each page unfolds into a tabletop sized 3-D “scaled beast.” European dragons are differentiated from Eastern and North American dragons and others. And, my, they are fabulous. Spiny and clawed and coiled, they pop up in red or gold or green from pages filled with some facts and a lot of well-crafted, authoritative-sounding fantasy. The backgrounds proffer as well portraits of other kinds of dragons, like Lindworms and Wyverns. In a grand finale, there’s an extra page to accommodate a most impressive skeleton. The book cover has scales on it (!) in this most enjoyable book.

A. Allison

This collaboration unites Erlich’s masterful 1985 retellings of Grimms’, Perrault’s, and Andersen’s tales with Blythe’s beautiful 2009 illustrations . Simple pop-up scenes begin each fairy tale. Included are “The Wild Swans,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “Snow White,” “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” and “The Frog Prince.”

Note the Ages 7+ recommendation provided by the publisher. Erlich’s prose is contemporary and vivid; it is also hard-hitting, as is, for example, Blythe’s illustration in “The Wild Swans” depicting the jealous queen striking the princess. Many of us have become used to the softened
versions of Grimms’ and others fairy tales. This collaboration returns us to the unbowlderized roots of the stories, so I would buy this book for an older reader.

Blythe’s paintings also capture the magic of the tales, as in the illustration in which the wild swans fly out from the castle tower, or when the 12 dancing princesses embark on their secret nightly journey to dance the night away.

I recommend this as a truly a beautiful book to give as a gift or to savor at home.

A. Allison

From the Assyrians to the Aztecs and the Zulus, this marvelous 3-D cavalcade of military history is an eye-boggler, richly arranged, engineered, and illustrated. One sample page, The Spartans, has several artifact photos, two paintings—one a map, and a small fold-out map and booklet on the Battle of Thermopylae 480 B.C. Each page is complex. There are amazing special effects and add-ons, including two big fold out pages, little book inserts, sliding panels, and flaps. Text and captions are laid out on varied backgrounds very engagingly. Two of the pages are pretty gory—Samurai and Aztec, so this is for older readers. The back endpapers are fact-filled timelines-- and places to put the astounding number of “Picture Credits ” for a complexly-complied book like this. Information focused on the art and history of warfare presented in this format makes for a fascinating book.

A. Allison

This book is titanic. It’s a table-top world unto itself—quite magnificent when the heavy covers open out, you pull a tab, and the Titantic unfolds before your eyes. It’s a massive miniature with incredible detail: find those life boats! But this is even more than a fantastic trip onto the Titantic: included in various intriguing flaps and pockets are menus, a yellowing copy of the NY Times front page story of the ship’s sinking, a First Class ticket, a menu, a poster of some of the famus passengers, and a 32-page fine paperback replete with history, contemporary photos, diagrams of the ship—everything. Very impressive3 and worth the $30 proce for a work of art.

A. Allison

Stuff and Nonsense, two mice, are building a house and it is made of blue shapes and other colored things and of textures from woolly to wrinkly. Their many mice pals, industrious and inventive, bring their own items, like “bumpy stuff” or silver-shiny tools; one rides a unicycle, others wear party hats, and all are aiming for the ta-da of the final page: their new house—made of lots of different stuff and inhabited by lots of happy mice.

A “Touch and Feel Book,” this offers multiple sensory delights and surprises in a satisfying story. The text full of noises, exclamations, and rhymes to read aloud, adding another dimension, the auditory, to a very playful book.

A. Allison

This is an exceptionally beautiful book; it pops up in three dimensions to form multi-layered scenes enclosed as if on a stage. Flaps that look like curtains open to reveal the text and each scene is finely detailed. The use of lattice-like trees to create depth is especially effective, and all the elements of the familiar fairy tale are here: the cruel queen, the dwarves, the handsome prince. Sure to delight the entire family, this presentation of Snow White is a treasure.

A. Allison

Wow! Described as a “multiconcept book,” Van fleets’ Alphabet does not disappoint. It teaches the alphabet, sure. It also shimmers, tickles, smells, and moves. Its animals interact with each other in the humorous art and in details kids will spot. The book itself interacts with the reader through its various activities. Its flaps open this way and that, so the Giraffes double in height or a snug family of Zorillas is revealed. The three or four words per letter refer to the illustrations: the “Scaly green Alligator” really is scaly, the Cougar’s tongue is scratchy, the Mouse has palpable whiskers, and the Yak’s head is shaggy—tactile pleasure is a treat. But there’s more: when the text says the kangaroos are bouncy, there’s a tab to pull so they actually bounce; and those Nightingale chicks can be made to open their mouths endlessly. There’s even a genuinely stinky bug. And that’s just the “basic” book. Included too is a large alphabet poster with pop-ups for each letter!

Buy it for your children, your friends’ children, or yourselves.

A. Allison