"Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs" Click photo for larger image.

Stunning" is a much overused word -- especially by book critics. Yet stunning is truly the best way to describe "Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs" (Candlewick Press, $26.99).

This book more than lives up to its rather grandiose subtitle: "The Definitive Pop-Up." It's an unusual combination of education and entertainment that offers a ton of clear information about dinosaurs along with detailed pop-ups of 35 different types of dinosaurs.

Open one of the book's six main two-page spreads and you'll suddenly see a mean-looking ankylosaurus ready to fight for food. Open another spread, and a sharp-toothed T. rex unfurls, looking awfully hungry. Each of these dinosaurs, like those featured in the other four main spreads, are surrounded by two or three smaller books of facts that reveal more pop-up dinosaurs.

The book is the creation of Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. Sabuda, a veteran children's book creator, is often called the "prince of pop-ups" for his versions of "The Wizard of Oz," "Alice in Wonderland," "The Winter's Tale" and others. Reinhart is newer to the field of children's books; his work includes "The Ark," "The Pop-Up Book of Phobias" and the forthcoming "Cinderella."

Reinhart, who has an undergraduate degree in biology, wrote the text and created the illustrations for "Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs." Sabuda did the paper engineering, turning the illustrations into three-dimensional paper sculptures.

Two caveats: First, this book, marvelous as it is, is really just a starting point for children interested in learning more about dinosaurs; second, the book is best enjoyed by older preschoolers or early elementary-grade students, given the fragility of the pop-ups as well as the level of information provided.

For both men, creating the book was a labor of love, a chance to build on the fascination with dinosaurs that each has harbored since childhood.

"I myself am a self-proclaimed 'dinosaur freak,' " Reinhart said in a recent interview from the New York City studio he shares with Sabuda. "I could name about every known dinosaur even before I could read."

Reinhart remembers that one of the pop-up books he had as a child focused on dinosaurs. "The only thing I really remember about the book were that the pop-ups weren't that great, and that soon after I got it, my little sister ripped all of the heads off the dinosaurs inside."

Sabuda still recalls his indignation as a child when he saw a movie in which cavemen fought the dinosaurs, a historical impossibility. "Humans didn't exist when dinosaurs walked the Earth," he said.

"Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs," the first of three Sabuda/Reinhart pop-up books featuring prehistoric beasts, took a year to complete.

"It was a very big project," said Sabuda. "It's all trial and error."

Some of the dinosaurs were particularly difficult to engineer, Reinhart added. "The T. rex went through many stages. Robert did the basic jaw movement, and then we added arms, horns and terrible teeth."

The long-necked brachiosaurus also offered a challenge because his head kept sticking out of the book when it was closed," Reinhart said.

Deciding which dinosaurs to showcase was another difficult task.

"We had to put in the stars, like the T. rex," Reinhart said. "But there were so many others we wanted to put in."

To deal with this problem, the two created the small books that open out from each two-page spread.

Each book is hand-assembled in Thailand, assuring the quality of the paper engineering. More than a half-million copies have been printed in several languages and the book is selling briskly, despite the hefty price tag.

Sabuda and Reinhart, meanwhile, already are at work on the second "Encyclopedia Prehistorica." "It's on sharks and sea monsters," Reinhart said, noting that the third volume will focus on ancient mammals such as woolly mammoths.

"I hope that readers will realize that dinosaurs were some of the greatest, most powerful creatures on Earth," Sabuda said. "They're not just a pile of dusty bones displayed in a museum."