Pop-up books keep getting more astonishing and creative. These new books feature the galaxy of Star Wars, colorful geography, gorgeous 3-D Cinderella scenes and spotted giraffes.

"Star Wars: A Galactic Pop-Up Adventure" by Matthew Reinhart; Scholastic; $36.99.

Brilliantly detailed and ornate, the origami-like pop-up scenes in this Star Wars extravaganza are worthy of hours of gazing, and the text is spellbinding. Working light sabers, pull tabs and huge pop-ups explore all the characters, droids, vehicles and stories in the three prequel movies and "The Clone Wars."

Paper engineer expert Reinhart follows up with perfection to his 2007 "Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy," which was a huge hit. Reinhart, besides being a renowned children's book creator, is also unabashedly an avid collector of Star Wars memorabilia, owning nearly every figure and vehicle available. His passion shows, as this stunning debut brings to vivid life the galaxy far, far away. Kids of all ages, and adult fans, will especially thrill to the real, battery-powered, glowing light sabers at the end.

"Cinderella: A Three-Dimensional Fairy-Tale Theater" by Jane Ray; Candlewick Press; $19.99.

Three-dimensional scenes are portrayed on every page spread, so layers of gorgeous figures and backdrops from the classic "Cinderella" come to life in an ethereal, moonlit world. A shabby kitchen, sparkling ballroom and palace garden are presented with beautiful details, so readers will want to peek about every corner and nook and cranny. The fairy tale is also here, on the left and right foldout panels surrounding each lovely scene.

Graceful and painstakingly detailed, this "Fairy-Tale Theater" makes a classy gift for any Cinderella fan.

"My Pop-Up World Atlas" by Anita Ganeri and Stephen Waterhouse; Templar Books/Candlewick Press; 18 pages; $18.99.

Uber-colorful with bold, whimsical digitally-created illustrations, this atlas is 100 times more fun than most. With vivid blue-backgrounds, each sturdy page spread features a map of a continent, with fun sidebars, flaps to open, turn wheels that reveal products from each area and pop-ups of tourist attractions, mountains, famous sites and indigenous animals.

South America's page spread pops out the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Rio de Janeiro's Jesus statue and Venezuelo's Angel Falls. Australia and Oceania's area features marsupials and Sydney's Opera House, plus tons of tiny island countries kids may not be aware exist.

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