science fiction

Alice, The Mad Hatter, the Ugly Duchess, the Mock Turtle, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat - all come gloriously to life under the pen of Robert Sabuda. The wonderful madness that is the story of "Alice in Wonderland" is here in abridged form, faithful to Lewis Carroll's original text. Mr. Sabuda has enhanced Carroll's fantastical world with extraordinary pop-ups, illustrated in the classic style of John Tenniel. However Sabuda marks the illustrations as his own with his use of vibrant colors, thick black outlines, and the clever use of textures. The pop-up illustrations, large ones and smaller drawings, portray events like Alice falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, (and a device which allows the reader to peek down the hole after her), the Mad Hatter's tea party with silver-foil dishes and tea set, Alice and the hookah-smoking caterpillar, and Alice amongst a flurrying pack of 52 cards. The initial spread is fabulous. It explodes into a large and tall green forest, topped by leafy shapes that resemble Lewis Carrol's characters. What a wonder!!

I bought this book for a four year-old, and almost a year after receiving it she is still entranced, as are her parents and older brother. "Alice In Wonderland" is a classic for children of all ages, and this edition is one of the most special I have seen. Makes a very classy gift that will long be appreciated!
JANA

Once you have one of his pop-up books, you will be drawn willy-nilly to buy all of the rest. This is not his most sublime effort on two fronts. The art work is in the exact style of the original, so while it is stunning and beautiful, I think it is not as lovely as his absolutely original imaginings. A few of the pop-up effects such as the little baby changing to a pig face(found in one of the mini books within a book) don't work very well, since only the pig is visible unless you go thro contortions to peek inside before ever opening that page. The same with the scene of painting the roses red.

While a great deal of the original text has been abridged, only a couple of the nonsense rhymes that made the original unabridged alice one of my childhoods read aloud favorites has been included.

Overall, the pop up engineering is still stunning, to see Alice's face inside the White Rabbits home with her arms sticking out windows, and her feet out the chimney and front door, the mad hatters tea party, and of course, the very first telescopic view of her fall down the rabbit hole are not to be missed! My 3 1/2 year old sits thro 90% of the story just as long as he can enjoy the pop-ups again and again!

I've never written a review of any book before, but am compelled to do so now. (I'm not a very good writer!)

I've been collecting pop-ups for a long time, and this is the Pop-Up to End All Pop-Ups!

This book exceeds all my expectations of any Pop-Up. Innovative, top quality, surprise after surprise, includes full story, just superb!

I cannot give this book enough stars. If 5 is the highest, I give this book a 15! You will not be dissappointed!