A great book with many colorful details and intricate pop-up creations. I genuinely enjoyed this encyclopedia and everything it offered. Covering the the biggest cultures mythologies the book does almost everything right. It's only faults area few inaccuracies and niceties that are made up to make the stories more child friendly. If not for that this book would have received five stars. ( )

You know those magical pop-up books you see in movies sometimes? The ones that are so elaborate and complex that they couldn’t possibly exist in real life? Yeah, well, so much for that. Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda have created nothing short of magic with this three-book mythology-themed set. Each page has one large, impressive, center-piece pop-up that often extends far beyond the boundaries of the book. In addition to that there are little flaps on every page that lead to their own mini-pop-ups as well as some different stuff, such as a story that flips through the pages when you pull a tab (Gods & Heroes).

If you plan on getting one of these for your kid, maybe you should think twice if he/she is very young. The pop-ups are large and elaborate and, as it goes, more delicate than you may be used to. A rambunctious child could easily bend the paper which could possibly cause some of the pop-ups to fail to fold back in properly, causing even more damage. For example, there’s a mansion pop-up in the Fairies volume that will fail to fold back in if a paper tab is resting on the wrong side of another tab (they are not glued or attached in any way and it’s easy to bump it and move it to the wrong side). This happened when my girlfriend and I were looking at the book for the first time and, upon noticing that the pop-up wasn’t folding back in properly, we started examining it. It took probably five minutes to figure out what was wrong. That’s how intricate the designs of these things are. You have been warned.
( )

I absolutely love this book for a few reasons. First, being the amazingly intricate pop-ups! I have never seen a pop-up book like this, it's so engaging. Secondly, I like the topic and plot of the book. The author was able to take a large amount of information about myths and legends and break it down and organize it into small easy to comprehend portions. The big idea of this book is to teach the reader about ancient myths and legends while entertaining them with beautiful pop-up illustrations. ( )

I simply don't have the words to express how amazing and beautiful this pop-up book is. There are only 6 spreads, but the beauty and information contained in each spread is enough to keep a reader fascinated for hours. Each page has not only the main pop-up art, but four to six smaller pop-up stories. The craftsmanship is incredible, and I plan to display this book not with my other children's books, but on the shelf with my favorite art books. Reinhart and Sabuda's "Gods and Heroes" is without question an incredible work of art. ( )

Intrigued by the 'Mortal Champions of the Old World" pull out-it's great! ( )