Customer Reviews

The White House Pop-Up Book

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

 

 

When the kid was little we used to have pop-up books where the monster or the hero would jump up off the page. I never thought of them as adult books. This book changed my mind. Chuck Fischer has taken the most famous home in America and produced a pop-up book. It is architecturally accurate and ingeniously designed to pop up and give a three dimensional view of the mansion's exterior as well as some of the famous rooms inside.

This is combined with a series of booklets, blurbs, and lists that relate to the house and to its occupants down through the years. It's a way to look at history that is a lot more fun than reading a text book. It would be great for a show and tell at school.

I love the accurate architectural recreations of the great monuments of Washington, D.C. -- especially the main pop-up of the White House itself, rising from a beautifully painted rendition of the grounds, as entered through the main gate. The book is full of informative and fun anecdotal information -- which is icing on the cake of the ingenious pop-ups. Lots of fun -- I am giving multiple copies as Christmas gifts. A great present, for not a lot of money.

This book is not only beautiful to look at, but it's a fun and informational 3-d look into the country's most famous mansion. It has clearly been researched with great care and love for the subject ... exquisitely painted and recreated by Chuck Fischer. The 3-d construction is incredible. Also the pop-ups of former first ladies is a riot! Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, this book will be quite the conversation piece on your coffee table through the election and the holidays!

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend and I have enjoyed it numerous times since I first opened it. I have bought many Pop-Ups since and other than America the Beautiful, this remains my favorite.

I bought this book for my daughter-in-law for Christmas, along with another pop-up-book. I was dissappointed because while there are slide-outs and lots of information, the only real pop-up is in the center of the book. The other pop-up book was wonderful, and maybe I'm only comparing the two, but like I said; a real dissappointment.

We purchased these for gifts to give family in the UK. They loved them especially since most of their children have not visited Washington (or the US) They are a little bulky but colorful.

I was so looking forward to unwrapping this book, and couldn't believe how disappointing it was. I'm a huge fan of pop-up books, and this is the worst one I've ever seen. There are very few pop-ups! And some of them don't even work--are hopelessly stuck after only one use. There is material in little booklets which you open (they do not "pop"), and it's hard to imagine them being less interesting or visually appealing. They're stuck willy-nilly on the pages.

I especially wanted to see the different rooms in the White House, but the way they're displayed in a very weird pull-out on the back page which wobbles as you try to open it, you can't really get a sense of them. I wanted to show this book to children in the family, but there's no way they could enjoy it.

I can't believe someone decided to publish this book.

As far as Pop-Up books go;this has to rank right up there with the best.I will not bother to detail what is inside the book since that has already been done very well by the Editorial and Customer Reviews.
I have already reviewed other Pop-Up books and believe a different approach needs to be taken depending on the subject of the book.For example;"America the Beautiful" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Robert Sabuda could be described as delightful and fanciful in the case of "Alice" and majestically in the case of "America" and so should they be in these cases. The "White House" needs to be done in a completely different way.It requires formality,seriousness and utmost respect in the way it is handled. This has been carried off extremely well by Fischer and results in an excellent book,presentation and given the respect the subject demands and deserves.
I am surprised that no one has brought up the construction involved in this book in particular ,as well as the other two I mentioned.It takes great skill figure out how to make pop-ups work,and I am sure the printing of such intricate stuff must also be real challenging.The quality of the paper,printing and color rendering are likewise very important and well done. All that being said; these 3 books all suffer from one major weakness.One cannot, and should not, expect them to survive rough usage and they are definately not suitable for kids to handle roughly.However; a much better job and design is needed at the hinges where the spline connects to the front and back covers.I noticed there were several copies in the store where the hinges were already split.Even with care,it won't take much handling for others to split as well;it's just a matter of time and use. There is simply no way these books will stand up to use in schools or libraries ,or in fact even with normal use in the home.Applying "Scotch" brand Book Tape; along both edges of the spline will help on the outside,but that still leaves the inside hinges which are likewise too fragile and subject to cracking and spliting.
It is a shame that such an otherwise excellently constructed,albeit a difficult project ; has such a weakness and is so prone to failure.

It's not a real pop up book, But
it was a informed book about the
White house.

I have been fascinated by pop-ups since I was a kid and now collect them. I also have a love of history. This is the best pop-up I own. Fischer is a great artist,engineer and, as shown in this project, historian. This is a must have and a terrific gift.