Wicked: A Pop Up Compendium

by Kees Moerbeek, Greg Call

From Melcher Media, the team that brought you "Wicked: The Grimmerie," comes "Wicked: A Pop-Up Compendium of Splendiferous Delight and Thrillifying Intrigue," featuring the most arresting and memorable moments from the hit Broadway musical in moveable paper tableaux. From Glinda's dramatical entrance among the Ozians in her bubble machine to Elphaba's gravity-defying maiden flight, each spread puts you in the center of the action. Plus, discover secret artifacts (and artifictions) that you won't find anywhere else: the letters Galinda and Elphaba wrote to their parents, a map of the Emerald City, the Shiz University student newspaper, and a miniature Grimmerie complete with spells.

Genres: Fiction, Theatre, Fantasy, Picture Books

24 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2009

About the author

Kees Moerbeek studied graphic design at the art school in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and works as a full-time paper engineer and illustrator. He lives in The Netherlands with his wife, the book designer and sculptor Carla Dijs.

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm kind of a musicals junkie. I love them. After seeing Wicked a few years ago, I went out looking to get my hands on all the "bonus" material! This included the pop-up companion book, which I ended up gifting to my (also musicals-loving) mom. I recently re-read it while visiting.

The illustrations and pop-ups are gorgeous and intricate and super awesome. Some of them have moving parts, too! Then there are also a few lift-the-flaps and an open-envelope. Such a fun book to flip through!

The book does a lose a star in the rating, though, for lack of textual content. There's practically none. If you hadn't seen the musical, you might not even really understand what's going on. I recently read the annotated score for Hamilton, and it was chock full of info! I spent time poring over the photographs and reading every footnote. Wicked the Musical: A Pop-Up... didn't even include mention of all songs. So I would've liked to see a little more "meat" to the text.

Overall, the illustrations are pretty much enough to recommend the book on, even if it does lack some educational responsibilities. I would definitely recommend, especially to fellow musicals fans.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for Christmas and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was cute and fun. I did notice some errors that annoyed me extremely that should have been picked up by the editor. But other than that it was very whimsical and cute!

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful! I loved it! Reminds me of the musical! I was lucky on the price, too, because people are selling it for sooo much on Amazon. If I need cheering up, I just pop open this book and it shoos the troubles away for a bit.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generic and fun, but good for the lovers of the musical. Very whimsical...and very green. :)

[Crystal]

The pop-ups are beautifully done. Anyone who likes the musical will love this book.

[Callie Aunko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book!! I love pop-ups, too!!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pop-ups and artwork are masterfully done. The prose could use a little work, but maybe that's just because it's hard to read a print version of a musical?

[Becky McWilliams Guinness · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing addition to the musical.