The Night Before Christmas Pop-up [Hardcover]

The ingenious Robert Sabuda returns for yet another inspired pop-up book, a follow-up to The 12 Days of Christmas and The Christmas Alphabet, that retells Clement Clarke Moore's classic yuletide rhyme.

Sabuda remains a master of the medium, constructing a series of varied and well-engineered scenes: Santa pops in and out of the chimney, beds fold out, a window shade rises and falls, and, in a clever nod to Moore's not-a-creature-was-stirring text, it's a family of mice who are receiving Santa's nighttime visit. A pull-out tab even lets readers interact, when Santa's sleigh glides out on the clouds and over an intricately realized village. It's hard to pick a favorite scene here, but you can bet that kids will love the book's pop de résistance, in which Santa's lead reindeer nearly fly right up your nose (if they don't knock you out of your chair first).

The book's first-rate production and lively pop-ups are enough to recommend it, but Sabuda goes one better by showing the thoughtful restraint to make most of the pop-ups almost entirely white. A few accents of color catch your eye (Santa's red suit and silver pipe), but--as befits such a dynamic book--the visual focus stays on the action. (All ages) --Paul Hughes

Those wishing to give the holiday some gleeful pop need look no further than Sabuda's (The 12 Days of Christmas; The Christmas Alphabet) latest marvel of intricate paper engineering. In a slight twist, a tiny mouse family, tucked in and dreaming of shimmering sweets, wakens to sleigh-and-reindeer clatter. In Sabuda's signature style, a rainbow of solid-colored panels comprises the backgrounds, giving contrast to the white (save for St. Nick's suit) three-dimensional constructions. The pop-up of Santa's reindeer dramatically leaping toward readers is a stunner. All ages.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

K Up-Ingenious paper engineering sets off the well-known poem to fresh advantage in this arresting presentation. With his signature use of white paper and flaps revealing movable parts and pop-ups, Sabuda offers surprises on every page. A mouse watches the big hand of a clock strike midnight, the team of reindeer plunges dramatically toward readers, Santa's feet are seen springing up from the fireplace an instant before his head emerges from the chimney. In the final scene, an entire village, all in white, stands up on the page and, with the pull of a tab, Santa's sleigh streaks across a starlit sky. As with The Christmas Alphabet (Orchard, 1994), clever techniques, original design, and a unique graphic style set this work apart from most movable books. Due to its fragile nature, libraries may wish to keep it for displays, storytimes, and as an example of the pop-up at its most striking, rather than for circulation.-S. P.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Award winner Robert Sabuda brings Clement Clarke Moore's classic tale of The Night Before Christmas to life in this festive pop-up edition, sure to become a perennial family favorite.