Every Robert Sabuda pop-up is a marvel, but America the Beautiful is singularly remarkable for its inspired interpretation of the classic American anthem. Each page presents a magnificent pop-up featuring a line from the first (and best known) verse of "America the Beautiful." Sabuda has included the song in its entirety, featuring mini pop-ups, in a small booklet on the final page. Beginning with the Golden Gate Bridge, and ending with a spectacularly regal Statue of Liberty, Sabuda's America the Beautiful is a lovely keepsake that also serves as a patriotic primer for teaching young ones about America. --Daphne Durham

Amazon.com's The Significant Seven
Master paper engineer Robert Sabuda answers the seven questions we ask every author.

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?

A: Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel. I specifically remember feeling as if I'd become a grown-up reader because many of the pages did not have pictures.

Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?

A: The Stand by Stephen King
Madonna's Greatest Hits
Strangers with Candy: Season One

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?

A: That I'd be finishing a book project on time.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.

A: I live in New York City, so anyplace that's quiet.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

A: "Robert Sabuda--Bookmaker."

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?

A: Benjamin Franklin

Q: If you could have one superpower what would it be?

A: Invisibility



From School Library Journal
K Up–New and astonishing feats of paper engineering lurk within the bulging covers of Sabuda's latest creation. Here, taking the first verse of our other national anthem as his text, he flies viewers from the Golden Gate Bridge, over waves of grain beneath a spinning windmill, past Mount Rushmore, Mesa Verde, a Mississippi river boat, and the National Capitol, to Lady Liberty–then, within a small inset booklet, pairs the Twin Towers, a swinging Liberty Bell, and other American symbols to the rest of the stanzas. Aside from the aforementioned bridge, plus an occasional foil highlight, the pop-up effects are an undecorated white that gleams like those "alabaster cities" against the generally solid color fields on which they are set. The very last line, which contains a reference to America's "whiter jubilee," has an odd ring to it these days, and some of the pop-ups are so complexly folded that they'll rip if their spreads aren't opened carefully: still, each opening will elicit gasps, and the poem's soaring imagery has never been better served.–John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Sabuda's pop-up "America the Beautiful" presents stately paper sculptures of icons of the American landscape, rendered primarily in marmoreal white. The engineering is a bit creakier than it was in his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2003), and the large, complex constructions--especially Mesa Verde, whose contours may be less familiar than, say, the adjacent pop-up of Mount Rushmore--would have benefited from variations of color and texture. Nonetheless, this will add a welcome flourish to election- and inauguration-themed displays. Metallic embellishments on the cover and throughout will dazzle children, as will finely wrought details such as the tiny Abraham Lincoln statue visible through the columns of the Lincoln Memorial, and an inset minibook containing all verses to the song (and, of course, its own tiny pops). For contrast, pull out Chris Gill's color-drenched America the Beautiful [BKL My 1 04] or Barbara Younger's story of the song's origins, Purple Mountain Majesties (1998). Occasional bits of plastic and string make this unsuitable for children under five to use without adult supervision, but children younger than the target audience, as well as grown-ups, will also enjoy browsing. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Master paper engineer Robert Sabuda has interpreted the classic American anthem "America the Beautiful" in dazzling dimension. From the Golden Gate Bridge to Mount Rushmore to the Statue of Liberty, America has never looked more spectacular. This stunning keepsake masterpiece will be shared and admired by generations to come; indeed it is a national treasure in and of itself.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Robert Sabuda again dazzles audiences with his brilliant paper engineering, this time honoring the USA and the legendary text by Katharine Lee Bates. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Big Apple, Sabuda delivers dynamic spreads that combine his trademark white pop-ups against colored backgrounds. Notable spreads include the Great Plains, including a windmill that turns; a Mississippi River steamboat with spinning ribbons that symbolize the water in its paddle wheel; and a large Statue of Liberty set against the New York skyline. For anyone who needs an ample dose of patriotism or simply craves Sabuda's next book after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this stunning tribute is a treat that's not to be missed.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From the highly acclaimed Robert Sabuda -- a pop-up to celebrate America! The seven spreads based on this treasured anthem represent America at its best, most beautiful, and elaborately engineered -- from the Golden Gate Bridge, to Mount Rushmore, to Mesa Verde, to New York City. Sabuda's award-winning trademark white pop-ups on richly hued backgrounds make this latest book a must-have for every American.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Starched-white shapes of icons such as the Statue of Liberty and a Mississippi riverboat unfold in this patriotic pop-up. Paper engineer Sabuda (The Christmas Alphabet) goes line-by-line through the first stanza of the celebratory "America the Beautiful," pairing "O beautiful for spacious skies" with a red-on-white Golden Gate Bridge and boats cutting silver-foil ribbons through the water. Line two, "For amber waves of grain," exalts "The Great Plains"; here, a tractor foregrounds symmetrical rows of crops, a rooster crows on a barn roof and a string mechanism allows readers to turn a windmill's blades. Inside the closing spread ("From sea to shining sea!"), which pictures a minimalist Manhattan with foil-windowed skyscrapers, a small book-within-a-book provides mini-pop-ups (the Twin Towers, Liberty Bell and an American eagle) and lyrics to the lesser-known verses by "Katharine Lee Bates July 4, 1895." Skeptics may be taken aback that the "amber" grain and "purple mountain majesties" of Mount Rushmore spring up icy white. The author also takes liberties with mapping, for instance placing the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument perpendicular to the U.S. Capitol on the National Mall. The dove-white imagery, pure as snow, which worked so effectively in Sabuda's Christmas books, here suggests the rich connotations of the simple verses, but also sanitizes the complex topics. Sabuda's paper engineering impresses as usual, but the presentation seems more decorative than awe-inspiring. All ages. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Eleanor Heldrich

The miracle that is Robert Sabuda's work is that no matter how complicated and amazing his pop-ups are, they all slip perfectly back into their pages as easily as they popped out; and this is his most intricate work to date! The movable parts are all white with touches of silver and, because it was necessary in one case, orange; and the base pages are in bright low-intensity colors. He has chosen to illustrate the song America the Beautiful with such images as the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore, the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, and the Statue of Liberty with New York City in the background. The sheer number of pop-ups, the pop-ups within pop-ups, the height and width and length of his pop-ups boggles the mind. Or, as one woman who had never seen his work before, said after she had turned over a few pages, "It's so beautiful, it makes me want to cry." The wonder and awareness of the quality of this book would be wasted on a very young child. 2004, Little Simon, Ages 8 up.

School Library Journal

K Up-New and astonishing feats of paper engineering lurk within the bulging covers of Sabuda's latest creation. Here, taking the first verse of our other national anthem as his text, he flies viewers from the Golden Gate Bridge, over waves of grain beneath a spinning windmill, past Mount Rushmore, Mesa Verde, a Mississippi river boat, and the National Capitol, to Lady Liberty-then, within a small inset booklet, pairs the Twin Towers, a swinging Liberty Bell, and other American symbols to the rest of the stanzas. Aside from the aforementioned bridge, plus an occasional foil highlight, the pop-up effects are an undecorated white that gleams like those "alabaster cities" against the generally solid color fields on which they are set. The very last line, which contains a reference to America's "whiter jubilee," has an odd ring to it these days, and some of the pop-ups are so complexly folded that they'll rip if their spreads aren't opened carefully: still, each opening will elicit gasps, and the poem's soaring imagery has never been better served.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews