Sabuda's interest in paper engineering was sparked in childhood by reading a version of
Cinderella illustrated by
Vojtěch Kubašta. He created his first pop-up book at age eight. Initially working as a package designer, he illustrated his first children's book series,
Bulky Board Books, in 1987. He began gaining professional recognition in 1994 when he designed his first pop-up books for children,
The Christmas Alphabet. Within the books he has designed, Sabuda has used techniques including: He is a multiple No. 1
New York Times best-selling children's book creator and has over five million books in print published in over 25 languages. Book critic Ted Chapin described Sabuda as a "prolific master of the pop-up book" and "something of an artistic and engineering genius" in
The New York Times. A 2011 article in
The Wall Street Journal said Sabuda is "a master at making books come to life" and referred to him as "the reigning prince of pop-up books." Sabuda's versions of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2000) and ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2003) have been particularly praised, with graphic designer Steven Heller saying of Alice'' that "the intelligent paper trickery on each spread is, well, awesome." == Personal life ==