The brilliantly whimsical world of pop-up books is on exhibit at MTSU’s James E. Walker Library through August.

Eustace Scrubb rides an owl from Cair Paravel to the Eastern Marshes to begin the search for Prince Rilian in “The Silver Chair,” one of the books of “The Chronicles of Narnia” reproduced in pop-up form by Robert Sapuda and on display at MTSU’s James E. Walker Library through August. (photos submitted)

“Virtuoso: The Art of Robert Sabuda,” a dazzling display of imagination for all ages, is available for viewing from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the library’s fourth-floor Special Collections area.

A printable parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap. Off-campus visitors should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

For the past 25 years, Sabuda has created three-dimensional versions of timeless stories that literally spring to life as the reader turns each page. His pop-up renditions of classic tales include “The Movable Mother Goose,” “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

In addition, his pop-up stylings of “America the Beautiful,” “The White House: A Pop-up of Our Nation’s Home,” and “Sea Island Pops Up” help put the beauty of the United States into children’s hands.

“We wanted to focus an exhibit on Sabuda for the simple reasons that he’s both very widely known and probably the very best pop-up book artist in the world,” said Alan Boehm, special collections librarian.

Sabuda, who calls his work “paper engineering,” has expanded his repertoire into designing pop-up greeting cards and paper-doll houses. He uses materials like Mylar, foil and string in addition to paper.

The Sabuda exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the James E. Walker Library at 615-898-2817 or visit http://library.mtsu.edu/specialcollections.php.

You also can watch Sabuda discuss his White House book below and visit his website, http://wp.robertsabuda.com, for tips on making your own pop-ups.

— Gina K. Logue (logue@mtsu.edu)

Mowgli, the child at the heart of Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book,” dances through the pages of artist Robert Sabuda’s interpretation. It is part of “Virtuoso: The Art of Robert Sabuda,” a display open through August in the Special Collections area of MTSU’s James E. Walker Library.

A reindeer emerges from the pages of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” one of the pop-up books on display now in “Virtuoso: The Art of Robert Sabuda” at MTSU’s James E. Walker Library. The reindeer’s antlers are decorated with the “five golden rings” mentioned in the classic holiday song.