The Wizard of Oz Pop-up

Sabuda's version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is such a gorgeous book. Sabuda is the master of paper crafting. His two page pop-up spreads are amazing. They are detailed, brilliant in color, and capture a whimsical feel perfectly suited to the subject. Most impressive of all, though, is the ingenuity of his constructions that emerge from the page. One set up features the wizard taking off in his hot air balloon; a hot air balloon is suppressed between two flat pages until its turn arrives, and then jumps up and gracefully swings back and forth, with the wizard in his basket hanging below. That in itself should be enough to recommend this book to everyone. Nonetheless, some of the other spreads display a glorious Emerald City castle, a creepy witch's castle, a twisting tornado, the Munchkin village, a field of poppies, and a final scene. In addition to these big glories, each page has smaller pages with their own miniature fold-out people and objects. These smaller pages are where Sabuda includes the text, and he encloses a ridiculously large amount in tiny spaces. I suppose that should not be surprising, for a writer who specializes in the creative folding and hiding of paper. The narrative is easy to read, and true to the original. Well, guilty confession: I have never read the original Wizard of Oz series. It has been on my to-read pile for a long time. Yet, what I know from the movie and my background information about the books shows me that he at least captures the right spirit in his writing. I love this book, and hope to procure more in Sabuda's commemorative series. ( )

With out a doubt you WILL be pleased with your purchase of this book. The pop-ups will blow your mind. There is multiple pop-ups on most of the pages. ( )

I had the pleasure of reading this book again to some little ones recently. In general I’m not a huge fan of “pop up” books but this one really takes the concept to the next level, and for a classic story. The first thing you notice is the book is quite thick and upon opening the cover, you’re greeted with a tornado that springs up about ten inches. The book only has seven major pages but each is impressive, and the text of the story is then included on smaller sub-pages which open as insets, and which include smaller pop-ups and illustrations. Kids love the detail level and fingering things, putting on the small green film glasses when the Emerald City is entered, and spinning the hot air balloon which is one of the later pop-ups. They also love pointing out the small discrepancies between the film and the book which stem from the book being true to the Baum’s original, which I think is cool.

In an age with so much other content for kids, it’s nice to see this story is not “dead”, there are so many nice elements and messages to it beyond the imagination Baum clearly showed: being brave in a world that is sometimes evil and scary, being confident and understanding that you may already have within you something that you perceive as a shortcoming, being smart enough to see through charades such as the one the “Great and Terrible” Oz perpetuates until this motley crew comes along, and lastly, of course, the universal sentiment of trying to go home. If you’re looking for a very nice way of reading this story to kids, this “queen mother” of pop up books would be a great choice. ( )

This book is a beautiful book illustrated with watercolor and pop-up pieces. It was translated from Chinese so some of the wording is awkward but over all the narrative and the text it self is very well written. This is the traditional story of the four friends who go on a journey for one thing but end up finding so much more. The illustrations combined with the pop-up elements really bring the story to life and give it something a little different than the original. This book is great for children ages two through third grade. This book would be great in a classroom to:
-show children a very creative way to tell a story
-read aloud to the children
-have the children work with the pictures only
-examine the different characters and their personalities

This book is appropriate for the grades second through fourth. The book is lengthy and vocabulary for older students are used. The classical story of the Wizard of Oz comes to life in this pop-up story book. Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. A cyclone hits and she gets separated from her family. She comes out of her house to see that she is now in the "Land of Oz". The Witch of the North tells her that the Wizard of Oz can probably help her to get home and thus the journey begins. Dorothy travels on the yellow brick road and makes friends with a Scarecrow who wants brains, a Tin Woodman who wants a heart and a Lion who wants courage. Together they travel to the Emerald City in hopes that their wishes will be fulfilled. The Wizard of Oz turns out to be a fraud but still finds a way to fulfill everyone's wishes but something goes wrong with Dorothy's wish. Her friends stay by her side until she is able to return home.

Uses in the Classroom:
- Make puppets out of the characters in the book.
- I would have students come up with their own ways to make Dorothy and her friend's wishes come true.
- I would ask the students who helped Dorothy get home? Then I will tell them to write about a time a friend helped them in a time of need. ( )