Book Review: A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes by: Matthew Reinhart

Today I opened a box from Simon & Schuster. It was an exciting moment, because that box and this review signify the first time that we have worked together. I had no idea what would be in the box when I opened it. When I found out, I could barely contain my excitement. The contents of the box included a few books, among them, A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes by Matthew Reinhart. It’s true, I am a little bit old for pop up books, but this one is special. In fact, I would be shocked to find a more dynamic, beautifully handled pop-up book. This is more than a book, it’s closer to a work of art.

I admit, that I am not too familiar with Reinhart or his past work, though it is more than obvious that this is not his first jump into the world of pop-up books. It appears quite the opposite actually. Based on A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes one would think that Reinhart is a seasoned pro. At the very least, it is obvious that he has a busy career ahead of him should he plan to continue down this path. If you are also new to Reinhart’s pop-up work you might want to look up other Little Simon titles like Cinderella and The Jungle Book, two other Reinhart pop-ups.

A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes includes a series of big and small pop-up nursery rhymes. The big ones take up two pages and involve elaborate pop-up scenes unlike anything you can imagine without seeing them. Meanwhile, there is one or two mini pop-up sections per page. The big pop-up scenes include nursery rhymes like Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty, I’m a Little Teapot, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle. The smaller pop-ups offer scenes from A Wise Old Owl, The Five Little Piggies, Pat-A-Cake, Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Eeny Meeny, Old Mother Hubbard, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hush-a-Bye, and Star Light Star Bright.

Each setting jumps out at you. The coloring appears to fall along the antique lines and I think it is because it looks like the coloring was done with a colored pencil. I don’t know if that was the case or not, but on many of the drawings/pop-ups you can see the sketched, drawn look in the coloring. I can see where some might prefer a brighter setting with more vivid representations, but as these are nursery rhymes that have been around far longer than those of us reading this book, I find it to be quite pleasing. I like the more weathered look because it gives a nice level of authenticity to each story.

Every scene has something in it that manages to stand out. In Twinkle Twinkle, for instance, the twinkling stars are one of my favorite parts of the scene. Meanwhile, the crack in Humpty’s head or the Knight in the background that has his eyes covered because he can’t watch Humpty fall are both excellent additions to the scene. Of the large nursery rhymes, I would have to say that my favorite is Hey Diddle Diddle. I simply love the work that is shown here with the laughing dog, the fiddle playing cat, the colors in the moon, and all of the other aspects that have been included. My favorites of the smaller ones include Old Mother Hubbard, because it is such a good representation of the bare old cupboard and The Five Little Piggies because it is a pop-up with two more pop-ups inside of it, all of which are incredibly cute.

A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes is recommended for younger children. That being said, it is a pop-up book and those can be delicate. If your child is rough on books you might want to stick to reading this to them as opposed to handing it over to them and hoping for the best. It is not recommended that you let children under the age of three read this book on their own for that reason and because of the small parts. The price, according to the back of the book has a retail suggested price of $26.99. You can pick this up roughly anywhere books are sold. Amazon and other online retailers currently have it listed with a price of under $18, which is not bad at all considering the unique nature of the book.

Kids love and old will adore A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes. Parents should highly consider picking this up for their kids. It will make a great nighttime story book or could be used as something for cuddle time. No matter how you use it kids will love the highly detailed pop-up art representations of each nursery classic. A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes is highly recommended.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.