Pop—Up and Learn

King of the pop-ups Robert Sabuda teams with Matthew Reinhart for two Young Naturalist's Pop-Up Handbooks. In Beetles, Sabuda's glistening insects leap from the page; on the opening spread a pull-tab lets readers open and close the beetle's mandibles; on another, a camouflaged harlequin beetle emerges from the bark of a tree. Reinhart reinforces the basics—such as "anatomy," "locomotion" and "defense"—with funny, informative factoids. In Butterflies, Sabuda details the winged creatures with wispy antennae. (Hyperion, $19.99 each 14p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-786-80557-9; -80558-7; Nov.)

Robert Crowther scores with the interactive Soccer. In a section on technique, pull-tabs demonstrate the path of the ball. An "Air Soccer" game features a pop-up playing field, paper players moved by pull-tabs, and a tiny plastic ball for them to kick into the goals. A spin wheel shows World Cup results while a miniature rulebook and fold-out cards list winners of various club cups; biographies of famous players and managers are also included. (Candlewick, $17.99 12p ages 8-up ISBN 0-7636-1627-3; Nov.)

All Aboard!

A quartet of titles by Guido Van Genechtin debut in a new series of board books, called Animal Parade. Ha Ha! teaches animal sounds. Or does it? "Ha ha! neighs the horse," on the first page. Then, "Ha ha! moos the cow." Throughout, each animal "quacks," "baas" and "bleats" with pleasure. The other three titles: Hello!; Shhh!; and Too Loud!(Pleasant, $5.95 each 8p ages 3-up ISBN 1-58485-410-3; -411-1; -413-8; -412-X; Sept.)

With single-word captions and folkloric painting, Alison Jay's Picture This... appears deceptively simple. A second glance at this oversize board book edition reveals its allusions to Hickory Dickory Dock, Jack and Jill, and the Tortoise and the Hare, among other nursery lore. Jay's creamy colors appear antique under a glaze like cracked porcelain. "Nostalgic images of a country landscape disguise this picture book's visual complexity," wrote PW of the hardcover edition. (Dutton, $8.99 30p ages 1-4 ISBN 0-525-46828-5; Jan.)

Two Fun Flap Books illus. by Simone Abel teach antonyms in simple contexts. In What You Got, Sheep? the hero holds a "fat paintbrush" and a "thin pencil"; the next spread, with a lift of a flap, shows a "smooth balloon" bursting on a "prickly cactus." A porcine star demonstrates similar concepts in What's Up, Pig? The helmeted pig stands on a ladder to paint a windowsill ("Pig is careful"), children pull down the flap to see him fall ("Pig is clumsy"). (Sterling/Pinwheel, $3.95 each 10p ages 2-4 ISBN 0-8069-7583-0; -7585-7; Dec.)

Delving into the Past

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson's Volcano! blows the lid off of, among other things, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Vesuvius and Mt. Pinatubo in this informative offering. Designed to look like a newspaper, headline-grabbing titles announce chapters bursting with information and photographs about these famous blasters. Experiments help kids understand the power of volcanic eruptions; an index and glossary conclude the volume. (Kids Can, $14.95 32p ages 8-12 ISBN 1-55074-908-0; paper $6.9 5 -966-8; Oct.)

Part of the Fast Forward series, Nicholas Harris's Volcano zeroes in on one specific eruption, Italy's Mt. Vesuvius. Peter Dennis's richly detailed illustrations depict the devastation of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. Tabs along the side provide a time line from the ice age to the present. Zoom ahead as tourists flock to the newly uncovered Pompeii, whose landmarks provide a comparative reference point throughout. Other Fast Forward titles: Castle; Shipwreck; and The Wild West. (Barron's, $14.95 each 32p ages 7-up ISBN 0-7641-5311-0; -5309-9; -5310-2; -5312-9; Sept.)

Elizabeth Levy presents a punchy perspective on the past with two new titles in America's Horrible Histories series, Awesome Ancient Ancestors! and Who Are You Calling a Woolly Mammoth?, both illus. by Daniel McFeeley. Chunky blocks of informative text, timelines, sidebars, cheeky chapter headings ("Hello, People! Good-bye, Mammoths"; "A Huntin' and Gatherin' We Will Go"; and, for Mammoth, "The Ice Age Cometh") and a wisecracking cockroach guide lead readers on an informative exploration. (Scholastic, $12.95 each 128p ages 9-11 ISBN 0-439-30349-4; -30348-6; paper $4.99 each ISBN 0-590-10795-X;-12938-4; Sept.)

From ancient to modern, Andrew Haslam's exhaustive Living History explores Japanese, Egyptian, Roman and Native American cultures through this hands-on approach. The text, presented alongside maps, timelines and photographs, instructs youngsters on how to make ancient Egyptian games, Roman pottery, a Japanese Shinto shrine and a Sioux headdress. (Two-Can, $29.95 256p ages 8-11 ISBN 1-58728-381-6; Dec.)

Eric Thomas's lush, intricate illustrations mix with Angela Wilkes's informative text to dazzling effect in A Farm Through Time: The History of a Farm From Medieval Times to the Present Day. Gatefold spreads reveal cutaway views of the farmhouse and dairy. Following the flow of the seasons, this oversize edition illustrates changing farming techniques, the role each member plays in a small community and the effects of modernization on a traditional way of life. A glossary defines unfamiliar terms. Using DK's signature layout with a wealth of photographs, A Journey Through Time: Excavating Life on Earth by Selina Wood, illus. by Richard Bonson, begins in the present with an excavation in Pompeii, then goes back through the time of the dinosaurs, and even further to "the oldest rocks on Earth." (DK $17.95 each 32p ages 8-up ISBN 0-7894-7902-8; -7887-0; Oct.)