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Matthew Reinhart

As a child

"I don't think I ever remember a time when I didn't love art and animals," says Matthew Reinhart, the award-winning pop-up book creator. "There weren't many animals I didn't know, living or extinct! And like most kids, I could rattle off the name of every dinosaur and prehistoric beast ever discovered." Matthew continued to draw throughout high school, in the school's newspaper and for various contests; but never realizing he could make it a career, he went to college to study biology to prepare for a career in medicine.

As an adult

After graduating, Matthew took a year off to work in New York City as, believe it or not, a technician for the Eye Bank for Sight Restoration. He realized he wasn't cut out to be a doctor and, with his heart lying in art, Matthew decided to study industrial design at the prestigious Pratt Institute in New York City.

As an artist

Matthew focused on toy design at the Pratt Institute and before long met up with the prince of pop-ups, Robert Sabuda. "We hit it off," Matthew says of Robert Sabuda. "I began to work with him as an intern during school and learned all about making pop-ups. It's hard, and I never thought it would all sink in, but one day, it did! Now, I'm working on dream projects like Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs and the sequels. I am very thankful for everything I have and everyone who's helped me. Life is good, eh?”


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