Winter Pops Up! by Aurore Petit

While melting with around 100 degrees every day, I can't help but dream of ice and snowflakes. So, I've decided to stuff today's read in just a tiny bit early and enjoy the cool thoughts!

WINTER POPS UP!

by Aurore Petit

Phaidon

Board Book

12 pages

ages 2 to 4

COMING SEPTEMBER 16th!!!

From bundling up for the first snow to sipping warm hot chocolate, this bold, shiny pop-up book brings winter’s magic to life for little hands!

Perfectly portable and shaped for toddlers’ hands, this stylish and sturdy pop-up book brims with the joy of winter. Playful pop-up scenes leap from every page in vibrant, high-contrast colors and gorgeous foil effects.

Winter Pops Up! celebrates the season’s delights: bundling up for the first flurries of snow, sliding down snowy hills, sipping hot chocolate, reading by warm fires, and celebrating with sparkling New Year fireworks! With Aurore Petit’s vibrant, playful illustrations, simple, engaging text , and pop-up surprises that toddlers (and parents!) will love , this book is a sensory celebration of winter’s everyday magic.

GOODREADS     /     PUBLISHER

MY TIDBITS

Chilly thoughts and familiar moments make this a book to sink into with wintery thoughts of joy.

This board book is created for smaller hands and holds a surprise on every page as part of the illustrations pop out to give a 3D effect. The illustrations stick to shades of black, brown, minty green and a gentle red to give a cooler atmosphere with a comforting tone. They are fairly focused on the main feature (for example, a sleeping bear) with a simple background, as needed, to build each scene. These 'main features' pop out in the center of the two-page spread to add extra fun and garner attention. The text is short with one phrase for every turn of a page. These carry a lyrical feel and add a playful touch. The text works great for this younger audience level and adds familiarity to each scene without weighing down. 

The younger readers out there, who dream of snowy days and hot chocolate, are sure to smile as they flip through these pages. Most of the chosen moments will carry familiar moments and awake pleasant memories or help those, who haven't experience the snow, to imagine what it must be like. It's simply an ode to winter, so there aren't any underlying messages, either. 

It's an enjoyable way to dream and enjoy the thought of those colder months ahead.

And here she is...

Aurore Petit is an award-winning author-illustrator based in Nantes, France. She graduated the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg in 2006, and published her first children's book, Ménageries, in 2008. She has since written and illustrated multiple books for young readers, including the award-winning A Mother Is a House and a series of pop-up books about colours.

Summer Pop Up! by Aurore Petit

Who's ready for summer fun? Today's read embraces the approaching, hot months of the year...and that with the youngest readers out there in mind. See the words 'Pops Up' on the title? I'm very sure that means flaps and fun. These are things I always enjoy in books for younger readers (and secretly wish they had them in ones for much older readers, too).

So, let's see what this book holds!

SUMMER POPS UP!

by Aurore Petit

Phaidon Press

Board Book

12 pages

ages 2 to 4

COMING MAY 20th!!!

Winner, 2025 Best Baby Book Prize from the French Ministry of Culture
From family trips to ocean dips, experience summer’s everyday magic in this sturdy, neon pop-up book. With playful illustrations, engaging text, and pop-up surprises that toddlers (and parents) will love!

Designed especially for little hands, this bright, bold pop-up book brims with the joy of summer in every turn of the page. Perfectly portable and shaped for toddlers’ hands, this sturdy board book features six playful pop-up scenes that leap from the pages with high-contrast neon images – the yellow of sunshine and the pink of summer sunsets.

Celebrate the magic of summertime, from a busy bee zipping between blossoms to a bumpy ride in the family van, from spreading sunscreen on our faces to enjoying bare feet on a beach, and from diving into sunset seas to counting the stars at night. This book brings all our most-loved summer moments to life in a way that’s both familiar and fresh, clever and surprising. Every page bursting with the warm wonders of the season.

With Aurore Petit’s vibrant, playful illustrations, simple, engaging text, and pop-up surprises that toddlers (and parents!) will love, this book is a sensory celebration of summer’s everyday magic.

This is the first title in Aurore Petit’s seasonal pop-up series, publishing alongside Autumn Pops Up! and to be followed soon by winter and spring-themed books.

GOODREADS    /     PUBLISHER

MY TIDBITS

Summer beams with vibrant, contrasting colors and surprises on every page.

This little board book runs through an array of things people can correlate with summer. Be it bees or sunscreen, every page presents something most young readers can recognize. And it's pointed. For example, the mention of bare feet on a beach very much centers on those bare feet and pops them up big and bold. Each flip of the page reveals an illustration, which literally stands out thanks to cleverly placed folds, cuts, and mounting. These are created from carton, making them fairly durable under normal usage. Not only are they recognizable and enjoyable to see raise from the page, but there's also a little humor involved...very slight and just right. The text carries only a few words to make each moment clear and keep it very appropriate for the intended age group as a read-aloud. 

This book is as bright as the hot sun and lets the colors reflect that. Neon pink, bright yellow, jet black, and pure white make each page vibrant and somewhat feel like staring at the world under a very bright sun. By the last scene, the nighttime, it condenses into a calm, enjoyable sunset to wrap everything off nicely. 

It's a fun, little read to spread summer joy.