Customer Reviews

Castle: Medieval Days and Knights (A Sabuda & Reinhart Pop-up Book)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We have a few Robert Sabuda pop-up books. Most are amazing but some are a disappointment. This is a great one. The pop-ups are wonderful, some are interactive and the supporting text is interesting but not too complex for a younger child - most 6 year-olds and up would enjoy the text.
I have a 7 year-old and a 2 year-old and both really enjoy looking through the book (although obviously each getting different things from it.)
It was well worth the price and nicely finished. I especially like the 'stained glass window' in one of the scenes.
There is also a 'metallic' knight in a suit of armour complete with a look of surprise on his face, peering out of his helmut.
I would recommend this for children of most ages and also for adults who enjoy the craftsmanship of a good pop-up book.

Stunning artwork and a paper-engineering marvel that brings to life the romance of the Middle Ages. I consider my copy a collectors item, if not museum quality. Purchased as a gift for a favorite nephew, will need to purchase another copy for him.

My son loves this book. It takes at least 30 minutes to look at everything in the book. Each page is filled with 3-D pictures, and some pages even have flip out pages with more moveable 3-D medieval things. I think it is a great purchase for any youngster interested in this time period.

The paper engineering in this book is amazing. My nearly four-year-old daughter adores this book and wants to look at it practically every night--and who can blame her. Not only does the book provide an incredibly detailed pop up of the exterior of a castle, it allows a peek at the inhabitants inside, talks about the various jobs around the castle, and even has a working catapult. My daughter's too young to appreciate the wealth of information contained within this book but she will definitely grow into it and it's really saying something that the mere visuals are so enchanting she wants to see them again and again. This is a truly marvelous book.

One of the more thoroughly realized offerings of Sabuda and Reinhart, this tomb goes way beyond simple pop-up books to take paper engineering to the level of an artform. Each page is meticulously detailed with innovative pop-up spreads, including entire castles, jousting knights, cut-aways of castle interiors, movable depictions of medieval artisan techniques, movable suits of armor, and a full banquet hall scene. The pages are also informative, imparting information on castles in the middle ages and the culture surrounding them in a language that kid's can relate to.

J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

Grandparents, parents, home-educators, and children: You will absolutely LOVE this book! I've been compiling books to categorize by era (ancient history, medieval history, etc.) in order to transition into a history-based curriculum for the next four years. Although I initially thought that this book would be too "young" for my children (who are already into G.A. Henty books), I couldn't pass it up because of the PRICE and because it was presented/endorsed by Sabuda. I am SO glad we got it! The art is amusing, the details are overwhelming, and the engineering is delightful! Also, the fact-filled narrative is informative yet pretty funny. The book serves its purpose well: it educates, leaves them eager to learn more, and in the case of big kids (mine are 9 and 11) gives them a break from the "heavy" reading and keeps things fun. Enjoy!

Our 4 year old son loves this book (His big sisters like it too)! He is learning alot and the pop up pictures really are wonderful! This is a favorite bed-time-book. Although it is fragile...I really reccomend this book!

a beaufully crafted book. the art of pop-ups still has a magical effect that brings out the child in all of us. the content is informative, and the illustrations are wonderfull. if that isn't enough, the pop ups take it over the top. trully magnificent.

I don't know exactly what to do with this book.

It was received as a birthday gift for my five-year-old.

The book is a complete marvel -- everything you read about the detail and construction of this book is right on.

What gives me pause is the dungeon and torture scene. The dungeon illustration shows a guard burning a prisoner with a hot poker (skin sizzles), another prisoner chained to the wall by the arms, and a third being crushed (to death?) with stones. One guard's face shows him to be enjoying himself; the torture victims' faces do not reflect agony.

So, wow. We went through the book one time, read every bit of it, and I would like to let him get really into the book. I am going to try to glue or tape that page shut. I would like to keep this wonderful learning tool, but I am not going to let that page slide through the Mommy Firewall.

Both my preschooler and I love pop-up books and we've been finding titles to add to our collection. I came across this Castle pop-up book at a local chain bookstore [retailing for about 6 bucks] and snapped it up! We were both extremely pleased as the book took us on a journey through a medieval castle and its inner workings. Each page unfolds a pop-up and there are also inserts on each page that one can open to reveal smaller pop-ups [this was a great joy for my little one], One learns about the various parts of a castle, where the different classes of people reside [it was a feudal system with people ascribed certain stations in life, and passed down through birth], One particular pop-up that I found fascinating [and which elicited lots of giggles from my little one] was the mini pop-up explaining how toilets worked in medieval times - so the man poops up above in his fine room, and a lowly peasant shovels it down below and cleans the pit - gross but informative!

Another feature I really liked was the pages that portrayed various people at work in their respective occupations - there was a pull the tab feature that showed how a man [atilliator] made a crossbow and a woman worked a spinning wheel.

The book also has a full page jousting pop-up scene where a pull-the-tab feature allows one to 'work' the jousters. This was something my daughter really enjoyed!The last pop-up scene features a feast and explains the various dishes, utensils etc used during a feast.

All in all, this is a wonderful pop-up book that not only entertains but educates as well. Highly recommended!