Product Description

Lions and tigers and bears. . . . Stand back for a beast of a pop-up!

Within these dynamic pages lurk fearsome saber-toothed cats, bears taller than basketball hoops, and everyone’s favorite Ice Age giant — the woolly mammoth. Prehistoric Yeti-like mammals, now-extinct birds, and giant flying lizards all come alive in a showcase featuring more than thirty-five astonishing pop-ups. In this third and final volume of the best-selling Encyclopedia Prehistorica series, 3-D masters Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart tackle the titans of the ancient world, awing us with a humbling close-up look at some startling mega-beasts that preceded us on planet Earth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28321 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-08
• Released on: 2007-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 12 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780763622305
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
Completing the nonfiction trilogy begun with Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs (2005) and Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters (2006), this book presents information and pop-up illustrations of other prehistoric beasts, from pterosaurs to woolly mammoths. Thick with layers of carefully painted, cut, folded, and glued papers, the book is designed to amaze, and so it does, with animals springing forward as their pages are opened. Besides the large pop-ups on the six double-page spreads, many small gatefold pages open out to reveal their own surprises. The cleverly designed and beautifully crafted illustrations move in and out without a hitch. Despite the text's relatively high reading level, with often lengthy sentences and multisyllabic words, there are no source notes or index. Take this for what it is: a fine collection of moveable paper sculptures bolstered with miscellaneous information. More to the point, it's a young browser's delight. Phelan, Carolyn

About the Author
Robert Sabuda is the co-creator of the first two books in the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series, DINOSAURS and SHARKS AND OTHER SEA MONSTERS. He is also the creator of many other stunning bestselling pop-up books, including AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, and THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Robert Sabuda lives in New York City.

Matthew Reinhart is the co-creator of DINOSAURS and SHARKS AND OTHER SEA MONSTERS, volumes one and two of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series. He has also created many other award-winning pop-up books, including CINDERELLA, THE POP-UP BOOK OF PHOBIAS, and ANIMAL POPPOSITES. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Great series
This is a great series that is not only fun and beautiful but also teaches kids a lot stuff. My younger sister has all the books from Encyclopedia Prehistorica series. In addition to this book she also has the other two:
Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up
Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters
My favorite series is about cats:
Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 1
Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 2
Why Some Cats are Rascals ( Book 3)
This series is for older kids like myself. It is full of fun and it also have a lot of information about all kind of cats and other animals, about history of Egypt (book2) and also about discoveries of American wild west and the Oregon Trail (book 3)

Look @, read about, and play with the Mega Beasts
Mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and the hyracotherium are all animals of unusual proportion(some big and some small) and they all came after the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, they're also extinct. We know what that means - we can't visit them at the zoo. But, we can see wonderful pop-up images of them. And thanks to Sabuda's thrilling papercraft skills and Reinhart's concise and insightful writing we can interact with those images in a tactile and personal way.

As with Sabuda's other books this one doesn't have a plot - it has facts. It's more like an index to Mega Beasts than a story about them. And it seems kids or adults don't mind a bit. The pictures are very colorful, the writing is creative, and the book is most original.

Every parent knows the enjoyment from hearing a kid say `Wow! Look at that.' - and this book is full of wow-moments. Who can't be amazed at the Mega Beasts? They were here before us. What do they have to tell us about this planet we live on? Consider them here in the form of pop-up art.

Combination of fascinating facts and magnificent three-dimensional illustrations
Robert Sabuda has been at the forefront of paper engineering and bookmaking for almost 15 years, particularly since the publication of his intricate and beautiful Christmas pop-ups (and, later, greeting cards) made him beloved by children and adults alike. Sabuda's protégé, Matthew Reinhart, is a relative newcomer to the publishing world, but he has quickly made a name for himself through his own pop-up creations as well as several collaborations with his mentor.

The best known of these are the three books that comprise Encyclopedia Prehistorica, a terrific compilation of facts and figures about dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts. The first two installments introduced young readers (and their curious parents) to DINOSAURS and SHARKS & SEA MONSTERS. Now Sabuda and Reinhart return with the third and final volume in the set: MEGA-BEASTS.

This time, the focus is on the gargantuan mammals and other beasts that inhabited the planet during the Mesozoic Era, right through the ice age and almost up to the present day. These include the huge flying lizard quetzalcoatlus, prehistoric rats and bats, as well as more modern extinct animals such as the dodo. The authors' comments about the relation of such long-lost species to today's endangered animals are subtly made and well-crafted to spark discussion and contemplation among young people.

Of course, the highlight of any Sabuda/Reinhart publication is the pop-ups themselves. As with the other volumes in the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series, the layout of each two-page spread includes one large, somewhat imposing pop-up creature (the smilodon [saber-toothed tiger] and woolly mammoth are highlights) as well as four or more mini "booklets" that include smaller paper constructions of other animals. Readers will pore over these pages for hours, as much for the awesome feats of paper engineering and their representations of impressive prehistoric creatures as for the text.

Certainly these three volumes are not really encyclopedic, but their combination of fascinating facts and magnificent three-dimensional illustrations and design is bound to spark readers' interest in both the prehistoric eras and the arts of bookmaking and paper engineering.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl