The long-necked giants spread, with smaller pop-ups on its flaps. Photo from Matthew Reinhart’s site.

A dinosaur book that runs to twelve pages yet stands two and a half inches thick. Every spread opens on one large paper pop-up, and the flaps around it fold out into booklets with more pop-ups inside.

Open the cover and a T. rex springs out, teeth bared. Turn to the next spread and a raptor unfurls, seeming to leap off the edge of the page. That is the design of the whole book: six spreads, each with one large pop-up at the centre and small booklets tucked around it. Every booklet opens onto more pop-ups and a paragraph of text. The long-necked giants spread above is typical. A blue sauropod rears over a paper island while four smaller relatives stand out from the side flaps, each captioned by name.

The asides are the best part. One pop-up restages a Victorian New Year’s dinner held inside the belly of a dinosaur model. Another shows two scientists in a literal tug-of-war over bones. The book teaches the history of paleontology along with the animals.

Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools write-up, in the Books That Belong On Paper column, calls it “pop-up as extreme sport.” His numbers are looser than the book itself: he counts five “pages” and three inches of thickness. The publisher lists twelve pages across six spreads, and the book measures 2.5 inches deep. He also names Robert Sabuda as “the artist behind” it. The publisher’s listing credits Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart jointly as authors and illustrators.

It came out in 2005 and is still on sale, a hardcover listed at $49.99 for ages 5–9. It was a #1 New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. There are two companion volumes, Sharks and Other Sea Monsters and Mega-Beasts, which complete the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series.

Kelly’s one warning holds. Layered, glued paper doesn’t stand up to rough handling, and small hands pull harder than paper hinges expect. Keep it on a shelf and bring it down with an adult, or let an older child read it alone.