ROBERT SABUDA

I grew up in the small rural town of Pinckney, in southeastern Michigan. With the ability to hold a crayon, came the discovery that I was an artist. I spent hours, days and weeks drawing, painting, cutting and gluing. My bedroom was a constant whirlwind of pencil shavings, drippy paint brushes and mounds of paper scraps. My mother's pleas of "when are you going to clean up this mess?!" went unanswered.

My passion for books took an unexpected twist after a trip to a new dentist. Noticing a wicker basket filled with books my mother suggested I bring one over for us to share while we waited. I opened the first one and was shocked and delighted when something leapt right off the page. It was a pop-up book! I was so excited I forgot all about the dentist.

Shortly after that, my mother brought home some old, manila filing folder from Ford Motor Company where she worked during the day as a secretary. The folders were perfect for making pop-ups. Everyone started giving me pop-up books as birthday or holiday gifts and soon I was able to make simple pop-ups by carefully examining these books..

Throughout middle school and high school I continued to improve as an artist and left Michigan after graduating to attend Pratt Institute in New York City to study art.

When I graduated from Pratt I went from one children's publishing house to another, showing my work and trying to get an illustrating project. I began to write my own stories and illustrate those as well. Picture books were wonderful but I always hoped that one day I could create a pop-up book, too. So I pulled out my old pop-up books and taught myself how to make even better ones as a grown up.

Today I work in my studio in New York City that I share with my partner, children's book creator Matthew Reinhart. We love making books. It's hard work but the best part is not having to worry about making a mess. When being an artist is your job, you can make as many messes as you want to!