Robert Sabuda

Robert Sabuda
Sabuda in 2014
Born	Robert Sabuda 1964 or 1965 (age 60–61)
Nationality	American

Robert Sabuda (born 1964 or 1965) is a children's pop-up book artist and paper engineer. His innovative designs have made him well known in the book arts, with The New York Times referring to Sabuda as "indisputably the king of pop-ups" in a 2003 article.

Early life

Sabuda was raised in Pinckney, Michigan. His father was a mason and a carpenter, providing Sabuda with an appreciation for precise construction. His mother worked as a secretary for the Ford Motor Company and brought home manila folders that Robert would use to create art projects such as pop-up cards and books.

He attended Pratt Institute in New York City, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in communications design in 1987.

Career

Sabuda's interest in paper engineering was sparked in childhood by reading a version of Cinderella illustrated by Vojtěch Kubašta. He created his first pop-up book at age eight.

His career in book illustration began with an internship at Dial Books for Young Readers while attending Pratt. Initially working as a package designer, he illustrated his first children's book series, Bulky Board Books, in 1987. He began gaining professional recognition in 1994 when he designed his first pop-up books for children, The Christmas Alphabet.

Within the books he has designed, Sabuda has used techniques including:

• faux stained glass (Arthur and the Sword, 1995)
• batik (Blizzard's Robe, 1999)
• papyrus-textured illustrations (Tutankhamen's Gift, 1994)
• murals (Saint Valentine, 1992)

Recognition

Sabuda works from his studio in New York City and is involved in a wide variety of projects that involve movable paper. Sabuda has been awarded the Meggendorfer Prize for Best Paper Engineering three times by the Movable Book Society. He is a multiple No. 1 New York Times best-selling children's book creator and has over five million books in print published in over 25 languages.

Book critic Ted Chapin described Sabuda as a "prolific master of the pop-up book" and "something of an artistic and engineering genius" in The New York Times. A 2011 article in The Wall Street Journal said Sabuda is "a master at making books come to life" and referred to him as "the reigning prince of pop-up books." Sabuda's versions of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2000) and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2003) have been particularly praised, with graphic designer Steven Heller saying of Alice that "the intelligent paper trickery on each spread is, well, awesome."

Personal life

Sabuda married Nasdaq technologist James Talvy on June 25, 2016. They were married at their artist's retreat, 10 Horse Art Center in Highland, New York. They spend their time in New York City; New Paltz, New York; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

External links

• Robert J. Sabuda at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (bibliography is only as an illustrator for speculative fiction works)
• "Robert Sabuda" 19-minute video from the PBS series Reading Rockets discussing the author's inspirations and techniques (2011)