America the Beautiful: A Pop-up Book [Hardcover]

Robert Sabuda (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2004 | Series: Classic Collectible Pop-Up

Master paper engineer Robert Sabuda has interpreted the classic American anthem "America the Beautiful" in dazzling dimension. From the Golden Gate Bridge to Mount Rushmore to the Statue of Liberty, America has never looked more spectacular. This stunning keepsake masterpiece will be shared and admired by generations to come; indeed it is a national treasure in and of itself.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Every Robert Sabuda pop-up is a marvel, but America the Beautiful is singularly remarkable for its inspired interpretation of the classic American anthem. Each page presents a magnificent pop-up featuring a line from the first (and best known) verse of "America the Beautiful." Sabuda has included the song in its entirety, featuring mini pop-ups, in a small booklet on the final page. Beginning with the Golden Gate Bridge, and ending with a spectacularly regal Statue of Liberty, Sabuda's America the Beautiful is a lovely keepsake that also serves as a patriotic primer for teaching young ones about America. --Daphne Durham

Amazon.com's The Significant Seven
Master paper engineer Robert Sabuda answers the seven questions we ask every author.

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?

A: Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel. I specifically remember feeling as if I'd become a grown-up reader because many of the pages did not have pictures.

Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?

A: The Stand by Stephen King
Madonna's Greatest Hits
Strangers with Candy: Season One

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?

A: That I'd be finishing a book project on time.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.

A: I live in New York City, so anyplace that's quiet.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

A: "Robert Sabuda--Bookmaker."

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?

A: Benjamin Franklin

Q: If you could have one superpower what would it be?

A: Invisibility

From School Library Journal

K Up–New and astonishing feats of paper engineering lurk within the bulging covers of Sabuda's latest creation. Here, taking the first verse of our other national anthem as his text, he flies viewers from the Golden Gate Bridge, over waves of grain beneath a spinning windmill, past Mount Rushmore, Mesa Verde, a Mississippi river boat, and the National Capitol, to Lady Liberty–then, within a small inset booklet, pairs the Twin Towers, a swinging Liberty Bell, and other American symbols to the rest of the stanzas. Aside from the aforementioned bridge, plus an occasional foil highlight, the pop-up effects are an undecorated white that gleams like those "alabaster cities" against the generally solid color fields on which they are set. The very last line, which contains a reference to America's "whiter jubilee," has an odd ring to it these days, and some of the pop-ups are so complexly folded that they'll rip if their spreads aren't opened carefully: still, each opening will elicit gasps, and the poem's soaring imagery has never been better served.–John Peters, New York Public Library
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 16 pages
• Publisher: Little Simon; Pop edition (October 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689847440
• ISBN-13: 978-0689847448
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can I give 6 stars?, October 23, 2004

By 

Charan "clwrites" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: America the Beautiful: A Pop-up Book (Hardcover)

Robert Sabuda has made me a pop-up book collector. These are not books, these are miniature architectural masterpieces and Robert Sabuda is the Lenonardo of this art. He is an artist certainly but he is just as good of an engineer to construct these amazements.

The first popup of the Golden Gate bridge uses a see-through plastic material which is something new in popup books, but why not, it works! Although I must say this book is a bit over the top in complexity. Each new Sabuda book is such an extravganza that I worry that he will exhaust his bag of paper tricks. So I wish him a long life so he can keep producing these books one per every year.

Ocassionaly the printing quality is not quite there (I bought 3) but I don't mind, all is forgiven. Just love this book. Magnificent.

Looking for a gift for a Democrat or a Republican in your life? This is the book.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WOW, October 24, 2004

By 

donny "don130" (Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America the Beautiful: A Pop-up Book (Hardcover)

WOW! Sabuda does it again. I don't know how these books are mass produced. Amazing detail down to Abe Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, and the spinning wheels on the boat. Incredible.

Only complaint is the everything is whitepaper, except the backgrounds. Would have liked to have seen color on the pop-ups like his other books.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Plain Plains, May 4, 2005

By 

M "Auntie Em" (Fairfield: CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America the Beautiful: A Pop-up Book (Hardcover)

Robert Sabuda rocks the pop-up world once again with this grand and noble entry. Set to the lyric poem "America the Beautiful", the plain white pop-ups stand starkly against the backgrounds, the landmarks so well-known and loved by most Americans that they need no more illustration than an outline. WE know the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty. Just as we don't need the musical accompaniment to the song to hear it in our heads as we read, we need no artistic concept of purple mountains majesties or sea to shining sea. Fill in the blanks yourself, that's what the white silhouettes ask us to do; for one man's fruited plains may not resemble another's. Sabuda allows our mind's eye to envision our own personal ideas of America. Stunning, so beautiful I'll be purchasing a copy for my daughter's 2nd grade teacher as a gift.
If nothing else moves you, the minibook with the silhouettes of Columbia, the Liberty Bell & the Twin Towers will bring tears to your eyes. Some memories are so overwhelming, they cannot be represented by a single image but must be suggested by a mere whisper of an outline.