The Magic of Children's Pop-Up Books

A world of wonder pops from the page

A few weeks ago, I wrote about children's books that made great gifts. Children's pop-up books are also a fantastic gift idea. But you don't have to be a kid to enjoy the detail and intricate paper sculpture made by today's authors of pop-up books. They are true artists using paper as their medium and the printed page as their canvas. The stories they create for the masses are truly amazing.

To get you started, I recommend three current authors of pop-up books. They're all favorites in my house.

1. David A. Carter

Carter creates pop-up books that appeal to young children. Most of his books are about silly bugs--Bed Bugs, Space Bugs, Alpha Bugs, Beach bugs, etc. His bugs are colorful and zany, and they say funny things. Just that would be enough to keep the kids entertained, but he punches it up even more with his paper art. Bugs pop up out of boxes and planets and beach pails, and the kids just love it all.

2. Robert Sabuda

Children age six through one-hundred will appreciate classic stories redone by Sabuda as graphic masterpieces. Titles include "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan." You've never seen these stories come alive from the pages of a book quite like this before! Sabuda has also created a winter series of books, including "The Night before Christmas."

3. Matthew Reinhart

Reinhart has teamed up with Sabuda on many astounding pop-up books, including a set of "Encyclopedia Prehistorica." Titles in this set are "Dinosaurs", "Sharks and Other Sea Monsters" and "Mega Beasts." Along with their joint effort on "Castles," these are great gifts for inquisitive minds. The pair of paper engineers recently published a pop-up version of Tomie dePaola's classic "Strega Nona."

If you only buy one Reinhart book, I definitely recommend his thirtieth anniversary commemoration of Star Wars. This "pop-up guide to the galaxy" is sophisticated and daring, with stories within stories. It even features a light saber duel at the end. Remember--this is PAPER we're talking about. You truly must see it to believe it.

These pop-up books are all great gifts for kids. But if you've got somebody on your gift list who lives for all things digital, give them children's pop-up books and prove to them that books are far from history.