Love, a pop-up book that delivers in its simple complexity

When I was a kid I had a pop-up book. To me, it was akin to wondering if the refrigerator light stays on when you shut the door. I found myself mentally twisting and turning as to what the 3-D elements did once I closed the page. Then, a couple of decades later I was volunteering at a book festival when I learned about Robert Sabuda. I saw some of his books and my definition of what makes a good pop-up book changed forever. Love is a Robert Sabuda book. And if you’re familiar with his work the surprise in this one is that it skews just a bit younger and is simpler, while still being mind-bendingly complex.

Love is all about animal love. When you open the book you’ll see a forest green page warmly stating that I love you. Turn the page and you’ll see the Sabuda magic happen. A white parrot with a yellow beak pops off of the page, flares its wings, and extends its beak to feed three babies in a nest. The babies pop up out of the hole and go back into the hole as the page is closed. If this is your first Sabuda book then you’ll find yourself going back to when you were a kid and trying to place a video camera in the refrigerator when it closed, just to confirm there wasn’t a party happening in there when it’s not open.

Love will do all manner of things. It will keep you safe. It happens just the way you are and it happens forever. As you open the book all sorts of different animals will pop up at you. Open the book just a little bit wider and you’ll see even more. The three squirrels you see on a tree stump turn into five squirrels and more details will draw in even the surliest of people.

Also, don’t be content with simply looking at the book head-on, like you would a normal book. Once you open the pop-up pages, look at those 3D elements from the side, top, and bottom.

For example, there’s a fabulous spread where the pages open up to reveal some polar bears. You’ll see two smaller polar bears on the far left and right. If you just look at the book as if you’re reading it, then you’ll see a white, frog-like creature coming out at you. Now, look at those pages from the top and you’ll see that what you thought was a white Kermit, is actually a much bigger polar bear sliding down a snowy hill. There are even some snow waves as the three of them happily slide down.

Each pop-up page in Love is loaded with details like this. Some of them are more sublime and will take you once or twice to slowly look through the book to really enjoy it. Love is for children. Love is also for anybody who wants a conversation piece. This is an intelligent pop-up book that is as at-home in a waiting room environment, as it is in an elementary school library.

Love is by Robert Sabuda and available on Candlewick Press.

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