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A video interview with

Robert Sabuda

Since 1994 Robert Sabuda has taken three-dimensional pop-up books to new heights. Elaborate dinosaurs leap off the page. Colorful Christmas trees rise up and blink. Knights in shining armor joust before the king and queen. The ease with which these things twist, turn, and delight readers is the result of much trial and error. Robert Sabuda is a completely self-taught pop-up book artist. Without any guidebook or mentor, Sabuda has always had to challenge himself to find out what is possible.

Click on the links below‡ to watch this interview online. You can also read the interview transcript or a short biography of Robet Sabuda, or see a selected list of his children's books.

View online

A trip to the dentist (1:25)
Robert Sabuda still remembers the day he became fascinated with pop-up books.
Old-school art supplies (1:14)
Robert Sabuda made his first pop-up books with file folders that his mom brought home from her job at Ford Motor Company.
Guacamole and chips, please (1:12)
Contrary to popular belief, creating children's books is a rather solitary field.
Rose-colored glasses (2:41)
Robert Sabuda recalls the challenges of trying to make his first pop-up book actually work.
Paper engineer? (2:07)
This amusing anecdote explains why Sabuda prefers to call himself a bookmaker.
Paper is king (1:39)
When making books that are three-dimensional, the laws of physics dictate what is possible.
Made in China (3:04)
Every single piece of every single pop-up book is assembled by hand. Some of Sabuda's books come out in print-runs of 500,000.
Different looks for different books (2:15)
Robert Sabuda has very specific reasons for the paper colors and textures he chooses for each project.
Watch this pop-up book in action! (2:32)
In this video clip, Robert Sabuda walks and talks you through his popular book about castles and knights.

‡ This video clip will appear in Windows Media Player, which most computers already have installed, or you can download it now. Macintosh users can download the free Flip4Mac playback file, which allows you to play Windows Media files in your Quicktime player.

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