Pop-up books aren’t just for kids, and the new Star Wars: The Ultimate Pop-Up Galaxy, from Insight Editions, certainly proves it.
Despite being nearly 3 inches thick, this book has just five (very impressive) spreads, each with four or five pop-up scenes from the Star Wars universe. Each scene also has an accompanying blurb of text, telling a small part of the Skywalker Saga. The events of the prequel movies get one spread, while the original trilogy and newest movies each get two. There’s even a small hint of what’s to come for the galaxy in The Rise of Skywalker — with a blurb called “Final Clash Between the Light Side and the Dark” and a pop-up that switches between TIE Fighters and X-Wings — though it doesn’t include any spoilers.
All of the pop-up scenes are incredibly intricate and full of details that fans will appreciate. Honestly, the pop-up Death Star on the second page alone is enough to make the book worth checking out. Many of the scenes (Death Star included) have pull tabs that make elements move.
This book also has a very cool added feature — you can undo tabs holding the pages together, unhinge the magnetic spine, then (carefully) unfold the book to be one giant, flat diorama. The book comes with instructions on how to do this, and I definitely recommend using them, because it can be tricky to unfold otherwise. The full display takes up a decent amount of space, so — unless you have somewhere to display it permanently — this probably isn’t a feature you’ll use all the time. But the visual effect is exciting and very cool.
Overall, the book is a great intro to the Star Wars universe for a kid, or someone of any age who is interested in learning about the general plot of the Skywalker Saga. It’s also a visually impressive, fun experience for a die-hard fan to flip through and would make a great addition to any Star Wars lover’s bookshelf.
It may go without saying, but the book definitely does require a gentle touch, especially when you’re folding the pop-up images back down. If the scene doesn’t fold back down easily, don’t force it! Any resistance (haha, pun not intended) means some of the folds or one of the tabs isn’t in the right place and needs adjusting. Overall, the book just requires a gentle touch so that the pages will stay in good shape.
This pop-up version of a galaxy far, far away doesn’t officially release until Oct. 22, but fans can preorder it now from Amazon. While its list price is $85, it is on sale now for $59.77.
Photos: Insight Editions
