Kid Konnection: America's National Parks

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you an incredible pop-up book that's fun and educational!

Summary: See the endangered Florida panther peering out from a cypress grove, an alligator charging a white egret, a snarling grizzly bear protecting her cubs, adventurers in a dory boat crashing through the rapids of the Colorado River, all rising up from the pages of America's National Parks, A Pop-Up Book. This pop-up masterpiece will become a family favorite.

Many of our country's biggest, highest and deepest wonders are found in the national park system. Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park is our deepest lake. Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park is the highest point in North America, and the nation's lowest point is Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park. In California, Sequoia National Park has the world's largest trees, giant sequoias. In nearby Yosemite National Park is the highest waterfall in North America, Yosemite Falls, cascading 2,425 feet into the valley. Our hope is the stunning pop-up scenes of America's National Parks, A Pop-Up Book will inspire you and your family to visit these special places.

 Throughout our history, great Americans traveled into the national parks, and praised their beauty and majesty. John James Audubon described his first visit to the Everglades: "We observed great flocks of wading birds flying overhead...in such numbers to actually block out the light from the sun..." President Theodore Roosevelt said of the Grand Canyon, "The most impressive piece of scenery I have ever looked at..." And John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, said of his
favorite wilderness, Yosemite National Park, "It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter." The book captures the beauty of these parks in amazing three-dimensional pop-up scenes. Stories are told of heroic explorers, such as John Wesley Powell who in 1869 set off with nine companions in four wooden boats to run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Newspapers across the country reported on his trip into what mapmakers named The Great Unknown. One newspaper reported on the planned trip, "whoever ventures into this canyon will never come out alive," almost a true prediction as Powell---with five crew members, in two boats---completed their 1,000 mile, ninety-nine-day expedition.

Springing to life are wildflowers of Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park (rises 13" above the page); a mountain goat, the iconic mammal of Glacier National Park, perches on a high cliff; and the grandest lodge in all of the national park system, The Ahwahnee in Yosemite National Park, invites you to enter.

The pop-up creations of Bruce Foster are impressive, as is the truly American art style of the 1930s WPA posters used by Dave Ember to magnificently illustrate each pop-up spread. Our national parks are in your heart. Now have them spring to life in your home with America's National Parks, A Pop-Up Book. -- W.W. West, Inc.

AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS: A POP-UP BOOK with paper engineering by Bruce Foster, illustrations by Dave Ember, and concept and text by Don Compton is nothing short of amazing! Truly, this book, with its gorgeous pop-ups, took my breath away.

This is embarrassing to admit, but I have never really thought much about visiting the National Parks. That is, until recently. I visited the Grand Canyon when I was in middle school, and besides that, I haven't seen any of the "biggies." But over the past few years, I've have had family and friends visit Yellowstone, Yosemite, and others; and I've been amazed by their stories and photos. I am truly in awe that we have so much beauty in our country and I'm beginning to think a vacation out west might be fun for our family.

After reading (and playing with) AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS: A POP-UP BOOK, I think I want to visit these National Parks sooner rather than later. This book is unbelievable -- one that you have to experience -- just like the parks I guess! The book has full page pop-up spreads for The Everglades, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, The Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and Yosemite. It also has text and illustrations on the Eastern National Parks and the Far West National Parks.

But that's just the beginning... this stunning book has little pop-up books that fold out for additional details about the parks as well as mini books included on each page. There are also featured quotations by famous people including John F. Kennedy, John James Audubon, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Muir.

When I saw that Bruce Foster was the pop-up creator, I knew that the book itself would be gorgeous; however, I admit I was surprised by how much information was included on each page. I couldn't get over how much I learned by reading this book, and that's one of the reasons that I love this book so much -- it teaches kids (and me!) about the National Parks in a very fun way!

Check out this video. I think it does a terrific job of capturing the beauty and complexity of the book. Some things just can't be expressed in words.


And here's another great reason to purchase AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS... they are trying to raise $100,000 for the National Parks Conservation Association. For each book that is sold, they will donate $8 to the NPCA! If you purchase the Deluxe Limited Edition (only 1,200 copies made) for $105, then $80 is donated to the NPCA.

AMERICA'S NATIONAL PARKS: A POP-UP BOOK is truly spectacular! Highly recommended for kids of all ages!

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this novel. 

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!