Most Beautiful Pop-Ups & Paper Engineering Books of 2025 – A Holiday Gift Guide
A Holiday Gift Guide
Prettiest Pop-Ups, Paper Engineering & Apocharta Books of 2025
On this page:
☞ You might also be interested in the Beautiful Books Guide to Pop-Ups & Paper Engineering and Books with Removable Artefacts
In previous years I've put all my recommendations into one big “Most Beautiful Books of the Year” list, but this year I'm giving each different shelf its own space.
This page is devoted to pop-up books, paper engineering wonders, and books with removable elements. And any book with a star (★) next to it is also visually reviewed in the video. If I recommend a book in this list, you can rest assured it's not just the physical beauty that counts – I do also read the books I recommend on this site, and I only include books where I think the contents are beautiful too ツ .
Bookshop links are included below if you are interested in buying any of the books for yourself. Some of the links are affiliate links (and thank you if you use them!) but please do support your local bookstore as a priority if you can. If you're new here, and you'd like more regular recommendations, you might also like to check out my regularly updated lists of special editions, pre-order offers, and/or subscribe to my very occasional newsletter.
And now, on to the books!
Video Overview
Pop-Up & Paper Engineering
Interactive Novels
★ Frankenstein - Mary Shelley, illustrated by MinaLima
MinaLima are the graphic design studio behind the Harry Potter films, and here they’ve taken Mary Shelley’s complete text and wrapped it in a very theatrical visual treatment. The pages are full of bold typography, ornamental borders, and full-colour illustrations that lean into the gothic drama of laboratories, graveyards, and stormy landscapes. has seven interactive elements – including a fold-out version of Frankenstein’s machine that you physically “unlock” to see the creature for the first time, a locket that opens to reveal the incriminating photograph inside, and a large map of Europe that unfolds so you can trace the monster’s vengeful journey across the continent.
➤ Find it at Amazon | B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
☞ Part of MinaLima's delightful Interactive Classics series
★ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling, illustrated by Karl James
“Features eight interactive paper-engineered elements – including the Maze at the Triwizard Tournament, Weasleys’ tent at the Quidditch World Cup, a Dark Mark shining in the sky, inside the Lake at Hogwarts, the Goblet of Fire itself, and more.”. ISBN: 9781546154419 / 9781526691262.
Paper Engineer: Jess Tice-Gilbert, text by JK Rowling, illustrated by Karl James
Publisher: Macmillan Children's
Anticipated Publication Date: Oct 16, 2025
➤ Find US edition: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
➤ Find UK edition: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
☞ Part of the highly recommended Interactive Harry Potter series
★ Codex Regenesis: Five Fables of Magick Misused - H. M. Batsel
I love this book so much, and I’ve already purchased several copies as gifts. Everything about this is gorgeous, from the central conceit that it’s a “found object”, to the calligraphic text and bold interactive illustrations, to the pull-out letters and hidden content you can only access after solving a riddle based on the book. In the story, you’re cast as an expert on occult texts trying to figure out what happened to a missing antiquarian bookseller. All you have is this mysterious volume of five fables, each set in a different time and place, each hiding part of a larger riddle in an interactive spread.
➤ Find it at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Abes | eBay
Art & Sculpture
★ Alphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape - Kelli Anderson
This is ostensibly an ABC book, but it’s really an annotated tour through the history and mechanics of typography. Each spread in this fantastic book explores how letterforms relate to movement, space, and structure, inviting you to manipulate the paper and see how shapes transform. The text reflects years of research in letterform evolution, and each pop-up embodies one of the typographic ideas she’s talking about. I’m not exaggerating when I say it there are hours of enjoyment and education from poring over the text and paper engineering.
➤ Buy from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
★ Pop-Up Sculptures - Peter Dahmen
An art pop-up book featuring six of designer and paper artist Peter Dahmen’s all white abstract paper sculptures. Text is in English and German, and there is also a special limited edition (250 copies) available which features six bonus pop-up designs and a slipcase.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Poposition Press
Education
★ Museum Pop-Up - Dominique Ehrhard
A pop-up homage to the French National Museum of Natural History, and includes treasures like stones from the Mineralogy gallery, diplodocus and fossils from the Paleontology gallery, birds, butterflies and an African caravan from the Grand Gallery of Evolution and plates from the National Herbarium. Each ‘gallery' is accompanied on a double-page with documentary texts.
★ The Incredible Pop-Up Frog - Ben Hoare, illustrated by Jasmine Floyd
The art dives deep into different types of wetland habitats around the world, while the engineering uses a mix of large central pop-ups along with secondary flaps, wheels and tabs. It’s aimed at curious middle-schoolers.
Companion volume to Incredible Pop-Up Bug (2024).
➤ Find it at Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
★ Curious Cryptids - Eleanor Hawken, illustrated by Berat Pekmezci
We follow a fictional cryptozoologist, Dr. Soothfast, on a round-the-world tour of legendary creatures that includes global legends and popuplar regional classics like the Loch Ness Monster, the Jersey Devil and the Chupacabra.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
Franchise Tie-Ins
I haven't seen the books in this section yet as they're not out in Australia, so I can't review them – but I wanted to highlight them for collectors as some titles are already out in several locations.
Avatar: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book - Matthew Reinhart, illustrated by Rodrigo Tannes
Explores the world of Pandora using artwork and lore from all three films, and includes both creatures and ecosystems.
➤ Find it at Amazon | B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
Wicked: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book - Matthew Reinhart, illustrated by Rui Ricardo
Showcases lots of places from Oz, including Munchkinland, the Emerald City, and the wicked witch’s castle. Like several of his earlier works, the whole book is designed to unfold to make one huge pop-up map of Oz.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
What's Up, Superman and Friends? - Matthew Reinhart, illustrated by Shane Clester
A lovely sturdy board book pop-up for little hands, that not only includes pop-ups, movable illustrations and lift-the-flaps in a series of spreads on DC superheroes, but it also unfolds to create a 3D representation of the Hall of Justice.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells
Children & Fairy Tales
★ The Moomins Find a Home: A Pop-Up Adventure
A pop‑up retelling of The Moomins and the Great Flood with gorgeous intricate die-cut scenes. Each spread uses a different colour palette and pop-up mechanisms.
☞ See the “Welcome to Moominvalley” video for a peek into this book
➤ Find US ed at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
➤ Find UK ed at Amazon | Waterstones
★ A Year in the Moominhouse: A Carousel Book of the Seasons
A delightful carousel book, featuring pop-up scenes from the Moominhouse throughout the seasons, that can be tied off with a ribbon to make a 360° carousel.
☞ See the “Welcome to Moominvalley” video for a peek into this book
➤ Find it at Amazon | Waterstones
★ Sleeping Beauty: An Enchanting Pop-Up Classic
Perrault’s version of the story is retold for a younger audience, with nods to Tchaikovsky’s ballet, and the whole book is trimmed with touches of metallic “gilding” that catch the light. The text sits in elegant panels around the artwork, and the theatrical pop-ups of key scenes usually take centre stage.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
☞ Part of the highly recommended Gilded Fairytales series
★ The Adventures of Pinocchio: A Pop-Up Book - Philip Giordano
Pinocchio’s journey – from puppet to real boy – is already full of memorable imagery, and the Giordano’s graphic, geometric compositions help make everything feel stylised and slightly surreal. The book is structured around a small set of major scenes that each get a full pop-up treatment, and the engineering leans into clean, bold forms rather than elaborate detail.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
★ Disney: Cinderella Pop-Up Book - Matthew Reinhart
A new addition to Reinhart’s series of intricately crafted Disney pop-up fairy tales that also includes Disney Princess: A Magical Pop-Up World and Disney: The Little Mermaid Pop-Up.
The artwork is new, but clearly inspired by the classic Disney animation design by Mary Blair. Reinhart is known for his large, elaborate pop-up constructions, and although this is a fairly small pocket edition intended for children, with only 5 spreads, he still manages to slip in a few clever transformation scenes.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Gruffalo Pop-Up - Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
Takes the classic rhyming tale and reimagines it as a set of large, three-dimensional tableaux in the deep dark wood. The original text is kept intact, with key moments – the mouse’s encounters with the fox, owl and snake, and of course the arrival of the Gruffalo himself –staged as full-spread scenes with sturdy pop-ups.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
Bluey: A Big Pop-Up Book
“Featuring fun pop-ups on every page, Bluey and Bingo are excited to play games with their friends and family.”
Simple boardbook style pop-ups, but sure to appeal to little ones who watch the show.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Blackwells
Apocharta / Removable Letters
Sanditon - Jane Austen, illustrated by Marjolein Bastin
A collection of Jane's unfinished novels (Sanditon, Lady Susan, The Watsons) and the complete juvenalia (plays written during Jane's youth), with removable ephemera including letters, a newspaper excerpt and family tree.
► Buy from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
☞ See also the collector's guide to the Majorlein Bastin Illustrated Classics series
Letters from Wonderland - Filippa Widlund
An interactive picture book with letters to open and read based on the children's classic story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
☞ See the review of the best children's books of 2025 for a video of this title
➤ Find it at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
Mr Tickle's Post - Roger Hargreaves
An interactive picture book with Mr Stamp, the Happyland postman, delivering Mr Tickle lots of mail for readers to pull out from the envelopes – letters, postcards and pictures of his friends.
☞ See the review of the best children's books of 2025 for a video of this title
➤ Buy from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones
★ Pride and Prejudice: The Deluxe Letters Edition - Jane Austen
A deluxe, cloth-bound, two-volume set with historically accurate replicas of the characters' letters, plus new mementos from the earlier 2020 edition, such as the Darcys' marriage certificate and an invitation to the ball at Netherfield.
➤ Find it at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
☞ Read more about the handwritten correspondence editions
Foreign Language
★ Océan - Elena Selena
French language edition. Five fairy-tale-like underwater scenes, with each spread focusing on a different facet of the sea: shoals of fish, drifting jellyfish, seahorses, coral forests.
➤ Find it at Amazon FR
Das Neinhorn - Marc-Uwe Kling
German language edition. A unicorn that always says “no” breaks out of its cotton candy world in the Heartwood Forest, and meets lots of other characters who don't fit the mold. A pop-up adaptation of a classic picture book, with pop-ups, flaps and interactive illustrations.
➤ Find it at Amazon DE
★ The Garden of Qi Baishi - Zhang Haoyi
Chinese language edition. A stunning three-dimensional exploration of the delightful floral paintings of Chinese painter Qi Baishi. Even the cover contains a beautiful pop-up insect.
[Apologies, this one is a bit hard to track down for English speakers – I found my copy on Taobao but the links move around a bit there. I'll update here when/if I find a stable link.]
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