AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

The wizard of pop-ups has created a masterpiece—in design, in execution, in boldness of vision, and in artistic and historical integrity. In seven openings, he treats the first verse of Katharine Lee Bates’s poem. “For spacious skies” features the Golden Gate Bridge, its span rising above a blue-and-green bay where small boats leave silver traces in the water. “Purple mountain majesties” is Mount Rushmore, every face recognizable; “above the fruited plain” rises Mesa Verde, an incredibly elaborate construction. Sabuda uses foil lavishly, even to the silver ropes on the paddlewheels of the Mississippi steamboat where “God shed His grace.” The work does not end with the final “from sea to shining sea,” with the Statue of Liberty rising in front of the Manhattan skyline, but continues in another four small, set-in pages. By including the rest of the verses on these miniature folios, he gives readers a few more icons: the Twin Towers with the verse “for heroes proved,” the Liberty Bell for “patriot dreams,” the space shuttle for “pilgrim feet,” and the American eagle for the last line of jubilee. Rejoice, and buy multiple copies. (Pop-up book. 4-10)