Flanimals Pop-Up - Hardcover

Ricky Gervais, author of the best-selling, award-winning Flanimals series, is well known as the creator and star of The Office and Extras. He has acted in numerous Hollywood films, has been nominated for an Emmy, and has earned many top media awards. He lives in London.

Rob Steen is a comics artist whose illustrations appear in Afterlife and Elephantmen. He has also illustrated all the Flanimals books. He lives in New York.

Grade 4–6—Adding another dimension—the third, to be exact—to many of the garish, glutinous creatures portrayed in British comedian Gervais's three previous galleries doesn't improve their looks any, but definitely adds to their gonzo appeal. From the glaring purple Mernimbler to the bizarrely portmanteau Squeeg ("thought to be the missing link between prehistoric Strankulators and the first Dunklings"), more than two dozen bulbous-eyed monsters rear up, slide past, or, in the case of the "jub-wobbling" Splunge (scientific name: Jello Snurbloid), explode in a mix of large central pop-ups and smaller figures in folded corner booklets. One particularly notable spread titled "Flanimal Evolution" sideswipes a certain famous Michelangelo painting. The paper engineering is more varied and inventive than Gervais's free-association commentary, but the stream of nonsense words have a giggle-inducing cumulative effect. Not only should this be popular on its own, but a "Flanimals" film due out in 2011 will also likely crank up demand.—John Peters, New York Public Library
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