Customer Reviews

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-up

5 star:		(147)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Robert Sabuda is one of my favorite illustrators and certainly the most renowned pop-up book artist and paper engineer working today. Combine Sabuda's entrancing three dimensional illustrations with Frank Baum's glorious story about Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Toto and their amazing adventures in the Land of Oz and you have pure magic!

The pop-up illustrations are quite intricate, with artwork that's faithful to W. W. Denslow's original illustrations. Sabuda works in a fresh, new style here using prints made from cut linoleum blocks. He brings the drawings to life in a way that will enchant children and adults alike. Each page contains a large pop-up and a small booklet which tells part of the story. And each mini-book contains small pop-ups too. There's a cyclone that really twists, a wizard's balloon that sails into the sky, holographic foil creates a true, sparkling Emerald City made even greener with the included green glasses for the reader

The text is slightly abridged so I would suggest that true "Wizard of Oz" fans include an unabridged copy in their library. I recently bought a copy for my cousin's little girl. She calls it her "magic book" and can't seem to put it down. This very special edition, published to commemorate the book's 100th Anniversary, is well worth the price and will surely find a place of honor on your bookshelf. It is spectacular!
JANA

I collect Robert Sabuda's books and love to give them as gifts. The copy I recently ordered was a disapointment.The tornado folded out parallel with the page instead of perpendicular to it. I compared it to my copy purchased last year and found it was printed in Colombia and assembled in Ecuador. The book I am reviewing here was made in China. What a shame. I would rather pay a little more for a quality pop-up book. I returned the book.

My parents bought this book for my 4.5 year old daughter, and believe me, we are keeping this one out of the hands of her book-destroying 1.5 year old brother. What a magnificent book! Every page has a beautiful pop-up, and not only the page itself, but the accompanying text pages attached to each page. Such creativity and technological wonders. Seriously! My daughter saw this in the store while we were on vacation, and spent about 10 minutes on the plane, quietly spinning the wizard's balloon. If that isn't worth the price, then what is? 10 minutes of quiet on an airplane? The man in the seat next to us couldn't keep his eyes off it... even he was fascinated.

Newsweek just featured this book in their December 11, 2000 issue in their article about the best new kids' books (see p.72). They even show the Emerald City pop-up on their table of contents page.

I am sure that as long as we can protect this book from our precious little one-man-wrecking crew, it will be a treasured heirloom for many years-to-come. Would make a fabulous gift for the holidays.

Whether you collect pop-up books or have never opened one before, please check this one out! This is Robert Sabuda, getting better every year, at his best. The abridged text is true to Baum's original, meaning that if you only know the movie you'll find differences. There's more text than in a lot of pop-up books, which is fine with me, since pop-ups make such good "out-loud" reading. But what pop-ups! The first pages open with a twisting cyclone! There's a full layout of the Emerald City, and there's a scene depicting the launch of the hot-air balloon. He's even included a pair of emerald green "glasses." And there are mini-pop-ups throughout. Honestly, I think you will fall in love with this puppy. And think about all the people on your gift list who are kids at heart and would love to experience this book.

I just have to disagree with the folks who say this is not a book for children...this is THE book for children! If you are looking for a book to give this holiday season that rates 100% on the "oooh-ahhhh!" meter, this is the one. Any child, in particular a reluctant reader, will be dazzled and fascinated by the Emerald City jumping to life in the middle of the book, the whirling balloon and spinning tornado. The artwork warrants accolades even without the magnificent engineering, and there is enough text to make this pop-up perfect for older kids as well. This book does great honor to the Wonderful Wizard, and will be as treasured in your home as a pair of ruby slippers. Whether or not this book actually survives the twister of children's handling, you'd be a real wicked witch not to share it with your favorite munchkin.

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-up" (story by L. Frank Baum and pop-up designs by Robert Sabuda) will delight Oz fans, collectors, artists, and the young at heart everywhere. Following Baum's story and illustrator W.W. Denslow's artistic style (rather than images from the beloved 1939 MGM film), the book chronicles Dorothy's ORIGINAL adventures in Oz with text and fantastically designed pop-ups.

Each page is an aesthetic experience unto itself, including a whirling tornado, a stunning Emerald City centerfold, and Glinda's castle. Smaller pop-ups are imbedded in the text areas to further charm the reader, along with a pair of green glasses, a melting Wicked Witch, the Wizard's balloon, and Toto too!

Collectors will want TWO copies of this book: one to keep unopened and one to view. It is an excellent introduction to the Oz phenomenon and will encourage readers to follow Dorothy's further adventures in sequel Oz books.

What's the most fun you've ever had with a piece of art before?

The most fun I've ever had, I have to confess, is opening this book to the pages featuring the Wizard's famous hot air balloon. The set piece, shiny and with its own basket holding the wizard, jumps quite literally off the pages, then swings back and forth in front of you. The amount of joy I experienced with this book at that moment was immeasurable.

What's fun about the book, which also has this huge, swirling cyclone in its opening pages that jumps out at you, is that it also remains surprisingly faithful to L. Frank Baum's original WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, keeping much of the text intact (though, for obvious reasons, the book is not taken and reprinted verbatim) while having the pop-up art serve as a variation upon the original illustrations when possible.

I got one of these for myself, one for all the little girls in my family and one for a friend in my office who just needed cheering up one day. It inspires you to read the great story. It inspires you to play with the emerald-colored glasses and all the pop-up images in the side flaps.

I was a fan of pop-up books as a kid, but this is the best, most accessible and most beautiful one I have ever held in my hands.

I've always enjoyed pop up books, and marvelled at the artistry and vision they must take to put together. But this book really exceeds anything I have ever seen--a twisting cyclone, flowers that look as if they belong in a beautiful garden, a huge hot air balloon, the glittering Emerald City, and so much more. The details included are incredible (the feet of the bad witch sticking out from under Dorothy's fallen house, for example.) Love the green spectacles included! I have purchased at least ten of these books as gifts, and made lots of people smile!

In an earlier review, I called Robert Sabuda a genius. Now I see that that description undervalues him! This book is one of the finest Pop-Up books you will ever read. Sabuda has distilled the story down into its most distinctive scenes, and used some of the most startling and imaginative paper-engineering to bring this magical tale to life. The book kicks off with a real spinning tornado and continues with pages that will have you saying, "Wow!", even if you're alone. The penultimate page is a jaw-dropper!

If you're used to pop-up books with "Pull Here" tabs, then you may be a little disappointed. You enjoy Sabuda's skill with your eyes - his creations explode into life from the flat pages into works of art. Even more astonishing is the fact that he's still found a way of telling this classic tale with words too - the way he's combined the "mini-pages" of text with "mini pop-ups" is truly revolutionary.

HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

My daughter Fiona (Age 9) was sent this book as a gift from friends in the States.

It is absolutely captivating, with pop-ups like you've never seen before! The artistry involved in bringing this much loved story to life has impressed everyone we've shown it to.... adults included, many of whom have asked for the details to order their own copies. A word of warning - this book is SO lovely that it's not the kind of thing you'll leave the kids to play with unsupervised!

Also worth noting that the text is a condensed version of the original L Frank Baum story - not the MGM movie version, and this makes it even more exciting for kids who have only seen the movie. Buy this book. Even if you don't have kids - our 3 girls just love it, and so do I!