cover image Ten Horse Farm

Ten Horse Farm

Robert Sabuda. Candlewick, $29.99 (20p) ISBN 978-0-7636-6398-8

Renowned pop-up engineer Sabuda bases his latest creation on the Ten Horse Art Center in the Hudson Valley, a former farm named for the 10 horses that once resided there; Sabuda converted it into a facility that offers art classes and studio spaces. Sabuda’s own striking artistry is on display in 10 pop-up scenes of as many horses and additional farm animals. Accompanying each spread is a single-word description of the horse in action: a dappled gray horse and a goat move their heads while “playing” tug-of-war with an artful piece of pop-up laundry; a white horse appears peacefully “drinking” from a stream beneath a multitiered pop-up grove of trees; and, in a particularly dramatic rendering, a black horse with a flowing mane is pictured “jumping,” its pop-up parts folding up and out beyond the borders of the page, while a rooster steers clear of the horse’s trajectory. The final spread shows all 10 horses together—one very well hidden—around the periphery of the farm’s welcoming red and purple barn, modeled after the building that now serves as a gallery. This is a beautifully engineered pop-up gem. Ages 5–8. [em](Apr.) [/em]