What do you think?
Rate this book
Zahhak: The Legend Of The Serpent King
2018 Meggendorfer Prize winner for the best pop up book.
Hot on the heels of the coloring book for grown-ups trend comes this pop-up book, a retelling of a Persian tale.
For the first time ever, a tale from the Persian Book of Kings springs to life in this stunningly produced and ingeniously crafted pop-up book. The Legend of the Serpent King retells the myth of the misguided Prince Zahhak who is easily swayed by the devil to murder his father and usurp the throne. Cursed with monstrous snakes that grow out of the king's shoulders, the Serpent King grows infamous throughout the land for his treachery and oppression. He rules for one thousand years before a noble and valiant Feraydun gains the strength and army to defeat the unjust King. The fantastic world of The Legend of the Serpent King literally pops off the page with intricately crafted spreads, two pop-up folds per page, and complex construction that will delight readers young and old with every turn of the page. Full color pop-up book
Hot on the heels of the coloring book for grown-ups trend comes this pop-up book, a retelling of a Persian tale.
For the first time ever, a tale from the Persian Book of Kings springs to life in this stunningly produced and ingeniously crafted pop-up book. The Legend of the Serpent King retells the myth of the misguided Prince Zahhak who is easily swayed by the devil to murder his father and usurp the throne. Cursed with monstrous snakes that grow out of the king's shoulders, the Serpent King grows infamous throughout the land for his treachery and oppression. He rules for one thousand years before a noble and valiant Feraydun gains the strength and army to defeat the unjust King. The fantastic world of The Legend of the Serpent King literally pops off the page with intricately crafted spreads, two pop-up folds per page, and complex construction that will delight readers young and old with every turn of the page. Full color pop-up book
10 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2015
1 person is currently reading
102 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 31, 2019
This book is absolutely gorgeous! I have never in my life seen such an incredible pop-up book, and I was surprised that Robert Sabuda had called it only “one of the best pop-up books” - where are the others like this?!
Art review alone - this book is so rich with detail it’s almost dizzying. Every little bit of minutiae is present and lavishly oriented on the page. This book is LUSH! Decadent and ornate are a couple more words I have used in describing this to others. Friends are eyeing my bookshelf like thieves now. The art and paper engineering are incredible. That being said, you do need to pay some extra mind when you are turning pages or putting additional pop-ups back in their place. All those moving parts do easily get bent if you aren’t careful to guide the pages back down gently. This is not a book you should let yourself, your kids, or your significant other turn the pages all willy-nilly and in a rush.
The story - this is actually an old legend from Iran, retold for English speaking audiences. It was so fun and lovely to see all the differences and similarities to story-telling in other cultures, and I was particularly fascinated with the incorporation of spirituality in this context. I mean every age old story is a story of good versus evil, right? This one also has the elements of compassion and humility and that was nice. It’s a really lovely story, and such a treat to be able to read and own a copy. Heads-up for more conservative parents who prefer Disney re-tellings over the original Hans Christian Anderson, Grimm Brothers, etc tales - this tale does not really pull punches in terms of content. *SPOILER ALERT (?)* The serpent king is murdering folx in cold blood to take their wives and feeding the brains of young men to his demonic serpents. So just be aware that this IS your momma’s kind of fairytale!
Did I mention how gorgeous this book is?
Art review alone - this book is so rich with detail it’s almost dizzying. Every little bit of minutiae is present and lavishly oriented on the page. This book is LUSH! Decadent and ornate are a couple more words I have used in describing this to others. Friends are eyeing my bookshelf like thieves now. The art and paper engineering are incredible. That being said, you do need to pay some extra mind when you are turning pages or putting additional pop-ups back in their place. All those moving parts do easily get bent if you aren’t careful to guide the pages back down gently. This is not a book you should let yourself, your kids, or your significant other turn the pages all willy-nilly and in a rush.
The story - this is actually an old legend from Iran, retold for English speaking audiences. It was so fun and lovely to see all the differences and similarities to story-telling in other cultures, and I was particularly fascinated with the incorporation of spirituality in this context. I mean every age old story is a story of good versus evil, right? This one also has the elements of compassion and humility and that was nice. It’s a really lovely story, and such a treat to be able to read and own a copy. Heads-up for more conservative parents who prefer Disney re-tellings over the original Hans Christian Anderson, Grimm Brothers, etc tales - this tale does not really pull punches in terms of content. *SPOILER ALERT (?)* The serpent king is murdering folx in cold blood to take their wives and feeding the brains of young men to his demonic serpents. So just be aware that this IS your momma’s kind of fairytale!
Did I mention how gorgeous this book is?
January 12, 2019
Absolutely stunning artwork! Unique and beautiful
February 14, 2020
A really enjoyable read, the pictures and pop out effects were wonderful.
December 7, 2019
The story is simply told, but HOLY COW the art! The pop-ups are fantastic, lush, intricate, dizzying. A wholly decadent and magical experience.
December 25, 2018
THE ART. A++
July 28, 2019
Hamid Rahmanian and Simon Arizpe have teamed up to create an award-winning, astonishingly elaborate, and richly entertaining pop-up book - largely for adults - that relates an ancient Persian myth in Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King. The story is not one I guess to be widely known, so I was very glad to become acquainted with it, especially as presented with such ingenious paper engineering.
December 23, 2019
I mean, a giant blue mosque much like the famed cerulean of Uzbekistan pops up almost a foot out of this book - what's not to love? It isn't for kids, but adults will be enchanted by the intricate and laborious paper craft that went into this. It's basically a feast of Persian origami with a great moral and I'm here for it.
January 6, 2024
The only pop-up book that I own so far. I have never heard of this folklore before but I am glad I have read it for the time with the art and imagery of this book. A beautiful and stunning book that I will cherish.
November 1, 2018
An amazing, adult pop-up book based on the 16th-century Persian Shah-nameh.
December 28, 2018
this is some seriously impressive engineering
October 31, 2019
lovely illustrations, a really unique book, but one must know the story before reading this, as the text is pretty spliced up to accompany the format of the book.
December 15, 2019
A brilliantly illustrated and interactive pop up book on a fantastical Persian legend. The story truly springs to life.
Read
December 31, 2020Astoundingly beautiful pop-up book. A gift from a friend.
February 17, 2021
This is a gorgeous pop-up book. Perfect gift idea! I found some of the translations difficult to comprehend from Farsi to English, but overall it is beautifully done.
October 19, 2023
Beautiful artwork!!! The detail and complexity of the pop up and the artwork in those pop ups is mind blowing!!
February 4, 2022
Simply unique.
November 16, 2020
What a beautiful design, this book is a work of art that pays homage to one of the strongest literary traditions in the world.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews