Customer Reviews

The Chronicles of Narnia Pop-up: Based on the Books by C. S. Lewis

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Length:: 1:00 Mins

This is a brief video walking you through this beautiful pop-up book.

Length:: 3:08 Mins

Calling this a "14 page book" is an injustice. It really isn't a 14 page book, it is a "Seven Wonders of the Narnia World". Think of it this way - 14 pages - each 2 page spread represents one of the 7 Narnia books.

Each "book" pops out at you in an amazing representation. If you've read the Narnia books, you say "ohh - yes.". If you haven't read the books, well, I hope they say "this is something you need to read".

It is somewhat delicate - don't let the youngest fingers turn the pages - do it for them. But it is indeed a beautiful engineering/art concept.

The engineering is "Robert Sabuda" for sure, but the artwork is "Matthew Armstrong". A former game designer/artist, he illustrated the children's Christmas book, The Blacksmith's Gift, mentored on An Orphan's Promise, and from these moved to illustrating Narnia books. Yay, Matthew!

Oh, and finally, I just love the "bonus" pop-ups - some of the seven pages have an extra pullout - which "pops up" another little scene! Really cool.

I have many of Sabuda's popup books. They are all so beautiful. This one is unique and I think his best. The pop up of the horse is hard to believe. I would not have thought that it was possible to create a pop of an animal such as a horse and capture all its majestic beauty. The lion on the first page is - don't know if I should call an art masterpiece or an engineering masterpiece. It is eye-popping. Don't open it too close to your face, it does pop out. Bigger than anything I have this complicated. This is a collector book!

Now with Kindle and all that, maybe there will be no books around in 50 years hence, so please buy this book as specimen of when paper was (is) king.

It is a great tusk to fit all Narnia stories in one pop-up book. However, in a way, Sabuda did a relatively good job as usual. The intricate details of his creations ar just admirable. It is a source of amazement for me, and I expect to get the same reaction from my kids, since I bought it as a Christmas gift for them, in addition to three books from a great children's series:

Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 1
Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 2
Why Some Cats are Rascals ( Book 3).

We already have other Sabuda's creations such as
Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up
Encyclopedia Prehistorica Mega-Beasts (Encyclopedia Prehistorica)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation
The Twelve Days of Christmas : A Pop-Up Celebration.

I wish this book was made of slightly more sturdy material - it does seem to be a little too delicate.

My son loves this book so much he took it to school to show his classmates. He also read the entire book by himself without help.

This book is done beautifully. The pop-ups are almost perfect. We had a little trouble with a couple pages that didn't want to close flat after opening, but nothing too bad. My only complaint is the story itself. If anyone else has purchased other Sabuda books such as Alice In Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz you'll note that the story is very detailed. I was a little disappointed that this book devoted only one paragraph to each of the books in the Narnia series. Overall it was still a great purchase.

This book is more complex and harder to make compared with my other Sabuda collections. Although they look fantastic when they pop-up properly, some pages fail to pop-up and close smoothly. I felt really uncomfortable this thanks giving when I give this book to a boy as a gift. His excitement faded because the knight can't stand up after open and close several times.
I like this book, but it is not perfect.

This book has seven two-page spreads each of which covers one of the seven books included in the Chronicles of Narnia series. The books are presented in chronological order. Each has a spectacular pop-up summarizing the book it represents. Text on the pages describes each story very briefly.

I am a big fan of Sabuda in general and this book in particular. I do want to mention that, while the pop-up engineering in this book is fabulous, you may come away with a wanting feeling b/c there isn't a full story. Also, the pop-ups open and close fairly easily, but I did have some catching on two pages (Prince Caspian and The Horse and His Boy). Thus, this book will require supervision of young readers if you want to retain the integrity over time.

DESCRIPTION OF EACH PAGE AND POP UP:
The Magician's Nephew - Aslan the lion springs from the spread, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - a snowy forest with a flap that opens the wardrobe door, The Horse and His Boy - a running horse spring across the page with a boy at the reins, Prince Caspian - the prince blows a horn, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - a boat sails across the pages and a flap reveals the mouse, The Silver Chair - the owls soar around a tower, and The Last Battle - many creatures pass through gates and out toward you, and a flap reveals golden gates.

A wonderful, creative book for any age. Seems sturdy, folds in nicely. It is a bit fat because of the layers but careful children, paper and book artists should enjoy it for many years.

RHEINHART AND SABUDA ARE TRULY FANTASTIC. MY GRANDKIDS NOW OWN 7 OF THEIR BOOKS AND NEVER SEEM TO GET TIRED OF LOOKING THROUGH THEM. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, THEY READ THEM. NARNIA IS MAGICAL. STAR WARS IS WONDERFUL, THE WIZARD OF OZ IS FULL OF WHIMSICAL ART WORK. I HAVE NOTHING BUT PRAISE FOR THESE AND ALL THE OTHERS THAT I BOUGHT. ALL THE ADULTS WHO LOOK THROUGH THEM, HATE TO PUT THEM DOWN AND INTEND BUYING SOME FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN OR AS GIFTS.