Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs Pop-Up

Book came damaged. Other than that its a cool book. My son is happy.

My nephew just got this for Christmas (he's 7) and gift opening came to a complete halt as we all gathered around. As so many other reviewers have pointed out, these illustrations and pop-ups are just incredible. Even the teens in our group were impressed (as were the adults, but we're an easy sell). Two things to keep in mind: 1. The text may be a bit challenging for younger children. As another reviewer said, it reads like an encyclopedia. But, I think the maturity of the text makes this more than just a well done children's book and could help younger kids transition into tougher reading. 2. These paper constructs are very complicated and more delicate than your usual pop-up. They seem pretty durable, but there is a lot more that can be messed up by incautious hands. If you have kids under 5, you may need to take extra precautions, because they will want to touch these incredible designs as soon as they see them.

Back in 1994, before Robert Sabuda had fully gotten into the flow of pop-up picture book art, he created some early pop-ups with names like, "The Mummy's Tomb" and "The Knight's Castle". Even with these fledgling efforts, Sabuda impressed himself on the critics. Said Publisher's Weekly of Sabuda's 1994 titles, "It's rare to find a pop-up book in which the paper-engineering is the servant, not the master, of the art". Fast-forward to 2005 and here we have Mr. Sabuda creating more pitch-perfect pop-up wonders than anyone else in America. Candlewick Press must be hugging itself with glee to have wrested Sabuda from the claims of other publishers. I've avoided reviewing Sabuda pop-up books until this moment for the simple reason that it is very hard to be subjective in the face of his work. On a first reading of "Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs" (which is only the first in the "Encyclopedia Prehistorica" series) I kept trying to assess the factual content of the book alongside the quality of the illustrations. Instead, I'd turn a page and find myself yelling to my husband, "Honey, look! The dinosaur's pulling the guts out of this brontosaurus!!! Come watch!". And he would and I'd try to read some other passage in the book and then yell, "Honey, look! You can make the two little men fight over the dinosaur bones with this one!!! Come watch!". And he would and this would go on for about 40 minutes. Very few picture books have the ability to be precisely as cool to their adult consumers as to the children who are the supposed audience. Sabuda's books are the exception to the rule and this dinosaur book is gonna knock the little suckers dead. On the cover of this book (fashioned to look as if it were bound in some kind of mottled leather) a sticker proclaims that "Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs" contains, "up-to-the-minute information about more than 50 different dinosaurs". I read this with some interest since the American Museum of Natural History had a recent exhibit of new dino discoveries and I was eager to see whether or not Matthew Reinhart (the oft ignored but nonetheless necessary collaborator to Robert Sabuda's books) would incorporate some of those new facts. What I found were fascinating suppositions, queries, and theories, many of which were entirely unknown to me. I dunno where Reinhart gets his facts (the book doesn't exactly reveal its sources or offer anything so useful as a bibliography) but there's some goofy fun stuff within the pages of this text. Like many of Sabuda's books, each page the reader turns to offers one big pop-up, and then small booklets that contain even smaller pop-ups. These usually illustrate some kind of side information that relate to the two-page theme. For example, when you turn to the pages about "Long-Necked Giants", the little booklets talk about sauropod defences and the distinguishing characteristics found between the mamenchisaurus, the brontosaurus, the amargosaurus, and

While the text in this is very informative and perhaps a bit too much like a real encyclopedia... well heck, this is a great reference book on dinosaurs in a fabulous package. Sabuda (if you know his work) is a master, and has really captured the fun, the fear, and the feeling of all the really great dinosaurs! Great colors, amazing paper-fold engineering, and its similar in design to the alice in wonderland/wizard of oz. For those of you who dont know these books (and you should get them as well), the pages are designed to have a large center display, with several booklet fold outs on each page. Inside these booklets are miniture foldouts. Really, this allows for more popups per page, and some great space saving. I highly recommend this newest work! Kids and collectors alike, this is a jewel of any library.

This pop-up book is absolutely stunning! I bought it for my 6 year old nephew and he absolutely flipped over it. Not only are there huge intricately designed pop-ups on each page, there are also 3 to 4 separate pop-ups under informative flaps on each page as well. This book is the best I have ever seen. I almost kept it for myself!

My 5 year old son just got this book from his grandparents and he absolutely loves it. As soon as it came he made me sit down with him and read the whole thing. He and his 3 year old brother were both fascinated by it. They've both been on a real dinosaur kick lately, and this book is great for them. It's got real information, and the language is simple enough for them to understand (the 5 year old did anyway) without talking down to them at all. It was actually pretty informative even for me, and I've had to read a LOT about dinosaurs in the last few months. My son actually said "This is the book I always wanted!" I have a feeling even much older kids would enjoy this book...including the 38 year old I'm sure will read it when he gets home from work tonight. The only down side is I'm going to have to store it where our 3 year old can't reach it. I'm sure if he ever got his hands on it unsupervised the pop-ups would be history. No pun intended.