Customer Reviews

Peter Pan: A Classic Collectible Pop-Up

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Oh, the cleverness of this book. It creates a fanciful world of its own. It would be a treasure for anyone to own, young or old. Especially for those who refuse to grow up.

Each of the six page spreads has an amazing pop-up in the center as well as a collection of smaller pages--each with more pop-ups--that tell the story of Peter Pan. Altogether there are 28 pop-ups. It's an awfully big adventure.

The first spread is a tour de force, the nighttime cityscape of London from above. You have to look twice, but the swirling clouds hide mermaids, an Indian princess, Mr. Smee and Captain Hook. The moon shows Peter's young profile. It's stunning, and moving. Imagination and adventure are literally tucked in the clouds.

The book itself is a full two-and-a-half inches thick, and constructed with super-heavy-duty paper. With a bit of care it will last many many years. The full-color artwork is loose and expressive, with bold black outlines and an almost woodcut style. The dreamy mood it evokes fits the story's flights of imagination.

Delightful details are everywhere. On the mermaid page the scales and a mirror are metallic silver. The pop-up of the crocodile who finally eats Captain Hook has a silver hook deep in its throat. The pirate ship unfurls to become longer than the book itself.

Other pop-up gems include:
600 Black Spots: A Pop-up Book for Children of All Ages
Birthday Bugs: A Pop-up Party
Blue 2: A Pop-up Book for Children of All Ages
Horton Hears a Who Pop-up!
One Red Dot: A Pop-Up Book for Children of All Ages

Thank you Sara for introducing me to this fantastic artist and engineer.

He is astonishing and I am so glad, at 66, to meet someone who indulges all my grown up childishness. This book is a marvel and a wonder. It is astonishingly beautiful to open a page and look down into the depths of a London that is alive and swirling with mystery. The clouds slowly reveal themselves as fragments of all the central characters in the book, almost as if they were actively hiding and exposing themselves in life. The engineering is exquisite to mushroom the mystery as the pages slowly are drawn apart, like a curtain opening to reveal the hidden backdrop of all the action; but this IS the action and it sucks you swirling down into the play.

Each pop-up is worth hours of exploration, and then of course you can read the words and return to the three dimensional art to see what you may have gleaned and what has been added. There is so much to stir your imagination and bring the words alive. The art is alive and rustling and stirring. It creaks and twitters and sways to unseen breezes and magical puffs. Then, oh so clevelry, it becomes its own backdrop to miniature books within the book, each mini-pop-up art evoking new contexts from the main and adding layers of meaning to the whole. This is a man made universe to jump into like a rabbit hole. These are not simple entertaining distractions to a story; they embody the story with a faith and clarity that only the most vivid imagination could create; and then they stimulate that imagination to riot.

A wonderful, exciting book for both young and old. I have many many Rober Sabuda's pop up. Each gives great pleasure. Have gifted many Robert Sabuda's Christmas pop up to friends. My granddaughter gets each book for the collection I started for her. Mr Sabuda is a genius. kz

The book is filled with a multitude of ingenious pop-ups by the king of paper engineering, Robert Sabuda. There are many new mechanisms to be found in this book, for example: a dimensional bed with several children snuggled in -or diving in, and with a string across one end that holds items of clothing; a ship which telescopes out so that it is actually longer than the page it folds into! The ship has a little trouble collapsing down flat again, but will do so with a little gentle encouragement. I would not recommend this treasure of a book to be used by a child without supervision, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Enjoying it with a child will assure that a little part of the adult involved doesn't have to grow up - at least for as long as this book works its Peter Pan magic!

London at night from the air has never looked quite so magical before, and Neverland, approached from the sky, appears to rise from a perfect, bucolic beach like a tropical oasis. From Tinkerbell to the mermaids of Marooner's Rock, the beguiling tale of the boy who never wants to grow up is an interactive adventure in pop-up king Robert Sabuda's latest masterpiece. The full-scale, multi-dimensional delights of the fantastical renderings, like my favorite --- Peter Pan flying out of the pages of the book towards the reader --- will keep many youngsters coming back year after year to revisit this gorgeous adaptation of the world-renowned tale.

There is little to complain about here, save the muted color scheme that gives the book an old-fashioned feeling. Perhaps I am too used to the brilliantly vivid colors of the Disney version, but there is something to be said for the palette here and the feeling it represents. As Peter Pan takes Wendy, John and Michael with him on a trip to his homeland to overcome the evil Captain Hook, the pop-ups themselves depict only major plot points --- and then not even the MOST major plot points. Which is another thing I really like about this book --- it doesn't attempt to overdo or remake the most familiar scenes but rather to illustrate other parts of the story that the Disney version skimmed over.

On each page, there is not only the pop-up picture but also a storybook that reads elegantly, like the original prose of J. M. Barrie himself, with smaller, full-color illustrations that help to anchor the pop-ups to the rest of the narrative. Often these pages fold out to reveal additional though smaller pop-up paintings that carry on the story. Although it is expected now that Sabuda's books will always be a gorgeous sight, their attention to the detail of the original tale or text that the pop-ups illustrate is just as original and fascinating as the 3-D artwork.

Sabuda's creations --- whether they be about real-life creatures like sharks and dinosaurs, or great works of literature, from ALICE IN WONDERLAND to THE WIZARD OF OZ --- are a jumping-off point for the original works. But PETER PAN must be appreciated on its own as a great work of art, a moving part of the continuum of this famous adventure from generation to generation. Like Peter Pan himself, the story never grows old and the flight of fancy it depicts lives on in this beautiful volume for the next group of Lost Boys and Girls. It deserves to be in a museum but will find a better home, surely, on your own bookshelf.

This is one of my 4 year old's favorite pop up books. Neverland comes to life in the illustrations and the sound effects add to the overall fantasy of the book. My little guy was already a huge Peter Pan fan and he enjoyed every element of this title. He was even willing to sit long enough to listen to the lengthy story thanks to the engaging illustrations. His assessment: "That book was terrific, mom!"

Everything I've seen with Robert Sabuda's name on it is just lovely. The pop-up books are so intricate and interesting, and this is no exception. I do find that I have to remind myself to read the text because I'm too entertained by the pictures-- but I think that's all right.

I am a huge Robert Sabuda fan and I own all of his books including his story books. This one was the worst by far. It had so much possibility. It could have had a giant hook come out at you, or the Crocodile snapping it's jaws at you, or Peter Pan flying. It has no imagination save for one pop up of a cannon ball. That one pop up is the best, but it is hardly worth buying the book for it. The last Pop Up of the Pirate ship does not even work completely. It is as if the book had a deadline to meet and it shows. Very disappointing for a master such as Sabuda. If you don't own Sabuda get The Wizard of Oz or Alice and Wonderland, but this one should only be purchased to complete a collection.

I've given three of the Sabuda pop-up books to my niece over the last several years. She's just now turning 7, and I agree these books are probably best read with adult supervision when young children are in the mix, since the pop-up constructions could be damaged with rough handling (though they are actually surprisingly sturdy). But she has known from Day 1 that these are "special" books, and I have a feeling she'll remember the wonder of the gorgeous three-dimensional images that bloom when the pages open long into her adulthood. I know the books delight her now. P.S. Yes, I've bought copies for myself too!

Received this book new from The Book Guys (a link from amazon.com). It arrived very well-packed and the book was sealed for protection. On opening the front cover of the book I was amazed at the attention to detail in the pop-up art! On each page, as well as the story pages, there are beautiful pop-ups to charge the imagination of little people. This was a gift for a 4-year old. He loves it and with each turning of a page he says, "Oh cool!." This isn't just "a book" - it's art!