Sunday, August 28, 2005

Encyclopedia Prehistorica : Dinosaurs

Encyclopedia Prehistorica : Dinosaurs by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.

If you think that pop up books are for kids, you haven't looked at Sabuda's work, including the stunning The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with twirling tornado and green glasses; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; and now, Encyclopedia Prehistorica : Dinosaurs.

EPD is an amazing pop up book of dinosaurs. Sometimes, Sabuda's work is all white, which while stark, helps showcase his creations. For this dinosaur book, the dinosaurs are in full color glory. There is a lot of information about dinosaurs and the history of "dinosaur detectives."

Each page has a "big" pop up, but (as Sabuda fans know) on each page are little booklets with more pop ups. My favorite "big" pop up: The sauropod, which includes an elephant and a human to give scale to the figure that is bigger than the book. My favorite mini pop up: the allosaurus, eating another dinosaur. A must own for any dinosaur fan or pop up fan.

While at library school, I had the great fortune to hear Sabuda speak about the process of how he creates his books. It was fascinating. If you ever have the chance to go to a place where he is speaking, run, don't walk! And if you don't have the chance, here is an interview and here is a peek into the studio.

Cute back story: Darling niece, who is 5, was over for a visit the other day and comes in with a bag from the toy store.

"What did you get," I ask.

"A present for you," DN responded.

And in the bag was was EPD.

"You have to be very careful with it," she admonished. "And put it up high so that little kids can't get at it."

I found out later that while at the store with my mother she had been allowed to pick out one thing. Torn between EPD and a stuffed cat, she asked, "what if we get the book for Aunt Lizzy?"

1 comment:

Kelly said...

What a cute story! You have a wonderful niece.
Kelly