World Report: September 23, 2005 Vol. 11 Iss. 4
- This Issue:
- Table of Contents
- Cover Story
- Cover Story - Spanish Version
- Mini-Lesson
- Comprehension Quiz
- Teacher's Guide and Worksheets
The Kings of Pop
A fierce T. Rex rushes at your face. Tiny dancers spin in a ballroom that you hold in your hands. A majestic moose rises toward you from a snowy field. These images may seem like scenes from your dreams. But they actually pop to life on the pages of magical books created by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.
Reinhart and Sabuda are paper engineers. Each of their elaborate pop-up books is a precisely designed world of cut, folded and glued paper pieces. The book builders collaborate on Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs, and each has a new book being published this fall.
"It's great to try ideas together and figure out how to make something work," Reinhart says as he demonstrates a pencil-smudged model of the team's T. rex pop-up.
Both artists studied at the Pratt Institute School of Art and Design, in New York City. Reinhart had first studied biology and paleontology. That knowledge came in handy for building 3-D paper dinosaurs. His new version of Cinderella goes on sale November 1. Next he will take on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
As a child, Sabuda found his first pop-up book in the waiting room of his dentist's office. He spent hours cutting and gluing his mom's manila folders to make scenes that popped up and moved.
"I still work the same way, really," Sabuda says. "We sketch with scissors, not pencils." His Winter's Tale will be published on September 27. Watch for that moose and an incredible cellophane waterfall.
Want to try your skill at paper-engineering? Make your own pop-ups by printing the patterns and following the instructions at robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp.
