ABC Pop-up

In the spirit of Marion Bataille’s ABC3D, this spare, compact pop-up book combines elegant paper engineering with a subtle seek-and-find mission as it moves through the alphabet. The book is wordless, but readers will notice small capital letters embossed into the pop-ups; hunting them down becomes part of the fun, along with naming the animals and objects they represent. A remarkably three-dimensional apple kicks things off, the A hidden within its leaf. Several spreads combine multiple letters (a tree with sprawling roots and a dangling tire swing takes care of R, S, and T), and surprises abound (a skeleton-revealing x-ray is especially satisfying). A couple entries may stymie readers (that V is represented by a village isn’t immediately apparent), but readers young and old will be impressed by how much fun McCarthy packs into a small package. Ages 5–9. (Sept.)