Encyclopedia Mythologica: Dragons and Monsters Pop-Up

Robert Sabuda is the co-creator of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica and Encyclopedia Mythologica books. He is also the creator of many other best-selling pop-up books, including America the Beautiful, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He lives in New York City.

Biography

I was born to Gary and Judith Reinhart in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in September of 1971. My dad soon joined the Navy as a jet fighter pilot, so we moved around a lot when I was young. Florida, Texas, Illinois, California, Virginia, South Carolina -- all over! Dad wanted to be more than a pilot (which was pretty amazing itself) so he went to dental school and studied to be an oral surgeon. Mom and I followed along, and soon we were joined by my little sister, Erin. Often times, Dad's training took him to places we couldn't always follow (even on aircraft carriers), so Mom took care of us. My childhood was filled with good times -- I don't think it could have been much better. Actually, I've never really felt like it ever ended!

Art was always a tremendously huge part of my life. Drawing pictures and making crafts were my favorite activities in school and out. I drew whenever and where ever I could! My school notebooks often had more drawings than notes. I loved animals (and still do) so I drew them everywhere. Dinosaurs, like I think about every kid on the planet, were my favorite and I could rattle off the name of every single one before I could add or subtract. As I got older, I was captivated by the movie Star Wars. The richness of the universe George Lucas created on the screen fueled my young imagination. Creatures, monsters, spaceships, and action heroes filled my many sketchbooks growing up.

Like most high school graduates, I wasn't completely focused on a career. I didn't know there were cool jobs like paper engineer (that's a pop-up designer, in case you didn't know) or that I could make a living being a children's book illustrator. Like most doctors' children, I was convinced to study biology to prepare for medical school. College was great, but I wasn't really happy. Medicine was not my calling. I'd always taken art classes along with my biology courses, so I had built up a bit of a portfolio. I moved to New York after college, and met Robert Sabuda, paper engineer extraordinaire, doing some volunteer work. His book, Christmas Alphabet had just come out, and he told me he had studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. I was inspired -- so, with the blessing and support of my understanding parents, I enrolled as an industrial design (specifically toy design) student the following year.

Pratt was fantastic, though my initial dreams of being a toy designer soon transformed into paper engineer with the help of Mr. Sabuda. I really got into pop-ups after working with Robert on books like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ABC Disney and Movable Mother Goose. My first big break in the pop-up world was The Pop Up Book Of Phobias, which was my first solo paper engineered book. Since then, I've gradually began to illustrate and paper engineer my own titles or occasionally co-author with Robert. So here I am!

Biography courtesy of the author's official web site.

Good To Know

"My first job at the tender age of 16 was at a frozen yogurt shop called This Can't Be Yogurt, or TCBY. Wow, did I get chubby working there! We ate so much of the yogurt (which at the time wasn't fat-or-sugar-free) and the toppings like candy and hot fudge, too. It was a fun first job, though I remember the owner of the store was kind of rough on us and would sit in his car and watch us from the parking lot for hours.

"I am a devoted Transformers fan from the very beginning, back in 1984. Until all are one (only die-hard Trans-fans know what that means!), I must have hundreds if not a thousand different Autobots and Decepticons that I've collected over the years, from the original ‘80s Transformers to Beast Wars: Transformers to the current series -- which is awesome, by the way -- Transformers: Cybertron. They were actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to become a toy designer when I was younger, and I almost got a job at Hasbro working on them in the late ‘90s. Thank goodness I didn't take it! The way I figure it, pop-ups are kind of like paper Transformers. I'd love to do a Transformers pop-up book one day. You listening, Hasbro?"

"As a kid, I hated sweaters. I used to dread getting sweaters at Christmas time -- since I would have to wear it for whichever relative had given it to me. I thought they were too ‘stitchy,' or itchy. My skin must have been super sensitive back then. Thankfully, I've gotten over it."

"I am an exercise freak -- my day is not complete without an early morning trip to the gym. I run, lift weights, jump rope, bike ride and pretty much anything else to get my blood pumping!"

"I don't like tomatoes unless they've been chopped into unrecognizable pieces."

"I do like jumbo shrimp, double tall soy mochas from Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme glazed crème-filled doughnuts -- a whole lot."