For those looking for this year's collectible holiday pop-up, many will find it here. The text is informative and sometimes truly surprising. (If you haven't heard the German legend of The Krampus--I hadn't, and my grandparents were German--you're in for a bit of an unexpected shudder and a shock!)
The book is interactive, of course, with plenty of informative flip-back, pull-open, slide-out features. The style of illustration echoes that of the Victorian images that sometimes share space alongside. The photographs and reprints are colorful, sharp, and well-chosen.
Most of the pop ups are delightful: The British images unfurl and swirl up and out miraculously. The French boulevard--with richly stocked shop windows, a picturesque Metro stairway, kiosk, and street lamp--glistens under strands of bright star garlands. A German village and mountaintop castle in the clouds and a giant decorated evergreen, all seen from a distance, invite you in with a festive "Willkomen" sign hung between entrance gates decorated like candy canes. The final pop up is a classic: Santa and his sleigh, silver reins shining, on his way around the world! And the last surprise--a pull-out drawer with a sweet gift tucked inside that will itself hold one more gifty or goody.
A few small disappointments arise along the way: The tip of the top turret of the German castle extends past the page bottom and will be constantly bent and tattered with use and conventional storage; you may want to shelve the book on its ribboned end or upside down. The pull-out drawer contains--I assure you--only one item, instead of the bounty of materials other similar books often contain. (I telephoned to be sure my copy was not missing materials.) And finally, in the last pop up, Santa's dull boozy expression is a major flaw in an otherwise delightful Christmas treasure. (With a tiny bit of correction fluid, a fine point pen, and a steady hand we've already refocused the eyes on our Jolly Old Elf. Looks great!) I hope future reprints might correct these small errors. And please, tuck at least a couple more holiday surprises into the pull-out drawer. Santa would.