Winter's Tale: An Original Pop-up Journey [Hardcover]

Robert Sabuda (Illustrator)

Book Description

Winter's Tale is Robert Sabuda's most spectacular original pop-up story yet. The simple, elegant text is illustrated with breathtaking artwork and extraordinary paper engineering. Stunning visual effects of foil, glitter, and a twinkling surprise further capture the magic of winter. This is a must-have for everyone's bookshelf.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3–Done mostly in sparkly whites, shiny silvers, and icy pastel hues, Sabuda's dazzling pop-ups upstage the simple text in a tale that highlights the wonders of a winter landscape. The paper constructions are indicative of the artist's usual high standard: an owl soars off the pages; a cave lifts and opens to show the foxes concealed within; and a waterfall cascades into a rushing river, where a bear darts forward to catch the fish that dance above the water's surface. The final 3-D scene shows all of the creatures posed within a forest of evergreens and bare trees, while a snowman standing in front of a lonely house reveals himself as the story's narrator, and promises to return for a visit next year. All of the animals–whether deer, squirrels, or a moose–are sculpted out of flat white paper, making them look elegant against the more colorful woodsy backdrops. While the artwork is stunning, there is not much plot here and the pop-ups are delicate, making the book more of a confection for browsing or winter displays than a story for reading.–Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. More dimensional sleight-of-hand awaits readers in Sabuda's latest entry in the Classic Collectible Pop-Up series. The theme here is winter wildlife, and as in many of Sabuda's books, the spreads feature spare, white pop-ups set against boldly graphic backgrounds embellished with glitter and foil. The renderings display Sabuda's typical virtuosity with a few exceptions; the bear's rounded physique, for example, doesn't translate quite as well to the planes and creases of pop-up art as do the forms of other animals. Remind readers to peek under the diecut flaps on most spreads, where they'll discover miniature pop-up scenes of additional woodland creatures. The text is fairly weak (an owl is described as "a soft streak of white in the sky," even though the artwork shows a close-up bird), but there's a gentle mystery about the identity of the narrator, who remains unseen until the last spread. The piece de resistance? A cozy cottage decorated with tiny, blinking Christmas lights, powered by replaceable batteries. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 12 pages
• Publisher: Little Simon; Pop edition (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689853637
• ISBN-13: 978-0689853630
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8.5 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Increidble!!!!!!!!1, October 6, 2005

By 

Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter's Tale: An Original Pop-up Journey (Hardcover)

The creativity that went into this work is undeniable...Sabuda's illustration and pop-ups are not only intricate, but dazzling. A perfect gift-giving book as we approach the holiday season.
This work, inspired by Sabuda's journeys through the snowy fields of Michigan as a child is awe-inspiring, and a delight for adults as well as children. Each turn of the page will dazzle you, but the highlight is a surprise pull that comes at the end of the book, and is truly a "how did he do that" moment. Beautiful nature scenes, incredible snowscapes, and simple yet elegant text.
This is worth buying two of...one to immediately enjoy, and one to tuck away as a gift to a future generation. AWESOME stuff.

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SABUDA CONTINUES TO AMAZE, November 4, 2005

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winter's Tale: An Original Pop-up Journey (Hardcover)

Everytime I see a Sabuda Pop-up book I am constantly amazed at the skill and intricate detail that goes into creating these masterpieces. A beautiful winter landscape filled with wildlife is the subject of Winter's Tale, a beautiful and serene book. There's a wonderful snow owl flying off the pages, bear catching fish with a waterfall in the background, a Family of deer, and my favorite, a house or cabin, neslted in the snow covered woods with a little snowman standing in front of the house.

Keep looking close or you will miss something. The test is light and just a moderate accompaniment to the pop-ups. The colors are gorgeous! This is another winner from Sabuda.

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The magic continues..., November 22, 2005

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter's Tale: An Original Pop-up Journey (Hardcover)

Yet another enchantment from Mister Sabuda. This is the fourth of his books that I've bought and each one seems more amazing. My first buy was The 12 Days of Christmas Anniversary Edition: A Pop-up Celebration and though brilliant it seems rather simple when compared to the Winter's Tale yet the format is the same, each spread has a dramatic pop-up and then the treat (on five of the six spreads in the book) of another pop-up hidden on the right-hand page.

The paper used is basically white but this throws up the selection of other surfaces, a white stock with a snow like glitter, two different silvers, acetate (used for a waterfall effect) and several flat graphic colors. As with the other four books I have Sabuda leaves the big surprise to the last spread, here it is a charming woodland setting with a house in the center complete with snowman and all the animals featured in the story. This pop-up is just stunning in itself but wait there's more, pull an arrowed tab and a series of six colored lights flash in sequence on each side of the house's roof. Just magical!

The flashing lights are the icing on the cake for me and possibly tough luck for Robert Sabuda because in his next book he has to top this extravaganza. (How about adding sounds Robert?) Incidentally take care with the pull tab for the lights, don't pull it too hard because to get it to work you'll have to remove a little plastic strip on the back cover to activate the batteries, then the tab will turn them off and on. Oh yes, you can replace the batteries, too.