David Pelham

This extraordinary children's book showcases the growing sophistication of paper architecture (elaborate pop-ups), the best known practitioner of which is probably "paper engineer," Robert Sabuda. Unlike Sabuda's work (colourful castles and dinosaurs...), this book is essentially monochromatic: white, with a silvery snail trail throughout. Pelham uses some metallic paper and clear plastic as well. Each two-page spread is an intricate three-dimensional microsystem: a lily pond, a mossy bank, show more a hollow log filled with leaves and arachnids...

The premise is simple: a snail's journey through nature. Extraordinary landscapes explode from the pages - dragonflies, spiders, flowers, birds, bracket fungi, butterflies, toadstools, paw prints, and of course, the snail - This is the kind of combined ingenuity and craftsmanship that gave us marionettes, automata, and paper airplane engineering.

The poetry is less inspired, but appropriate for children. It focuses on the infinite number of choices open to the snail as it creeps through forests and glades, leaving behind a mazy trail of silver as it goes up, down, around, and through the landscape.

Children and adults will be equally delighted. show less

This book was really adorable. I see it as a book to get a child more interested in reading, I don't really see any connections to other things or lesson plans because it was just fun. It's a pop up book where we learn progressively that each of the chocolates in the box has something really gross inside, like a grasshopper or chewed up gum. It's just fun for kids to lift up the flap and see what's inside!

Trail: Paper Poetry Pop-Up (Hardcover)
Not my favorite pop-up book. Maybe it's simple sophistication was lost on me, but honestly - there are much better pop-up books out there. I love pop-up books and I love poetry, but in this book, neither is remarkable. The pop-ups are quite intricate - there are five total - done entirely in stiff white card stock and thus, the effect is almost non-existent. The poem is printed in silver ink so light, you might miss it if you didn't know it was there. show more What was probably intended to be quietly understated simply becomes mute and washed away.

As noted, the pop-ups ARE quite intricate. However, they need some COLOR to POP! They are intended to illustrate the poem, but white pop-ups don't illustrate "green mossy banks" "evening sunset(s)," or "lily pond(s)!" The poem revolves around nature and feels uninspired and bland. This book is obviously the work of a serious pop-up artist. Unfortunately, it misses its mark. show less

A lot of thought went into this little book, it's shaped like a piece of cake to match it's title. The story is delightful, a family of mice attempt to take a piece of cake to a neighbors birthday party. As could be expected, it's an adventurous journey for the little mice trying to get that big piece of cake through the house, forest and fields to it's destination with adorable pop-ups all along the way. My favorite pop-up is the final spread where the entire party celebrates, and a tiny show more mouse sits on the edge of the page, dangling her feet below. show less