Look! A Book! (Review and Giveaway)

My children love books.  I love books.  Despite this, I have never seen both of my children love a book so quickly and so much as they love Look! A Book!  We've had Look! A Book for a couple weeks now and it is still the most-read children's book in our home.  Just about every day both of my children request it to be read and often spend time examining it themselves.  Usually my son looks at books in his bed, but this is one book they he just loves and will look at on his own any time of day.

Look! A Book! is "A Zany Seek-and-Find Adventure."  I love the big (sometimes inches big) words.  Some of the pages offer peep-holes to the next page and the text is rhyming.

"Look!  A bone!  A cone!  A pumpkin phone!  A clock!  A sock!  A toothy croc!"

My daughter (age 4) can certainly "read" and remember text like what is above.  What amazes me is that she is able to remember silly text like this, even if she just wants to sing it without the book in front of her:

"Bubbles!  Bubbles! In the sea!  AQUA-GOOFY JUBILEE!  Search to find the honeybee!"  

This large book includes illustrations about a variety of things.  Inside each illustration are hidden things like pizza slices, baseballs, and, of course, books!

• Things that go
• Museum creatures all escape
• Aqua-goofy jubilee (under the sea)
• Merryworld (amusement park)
• Haunted house
• Treetop town (tree houses)

Personally, I love the illustrations and will be seeking out more of Bob Staake's books.   My only complaint is that it has a haunted house scene in it (including a red devil).  Not that I want to desensitize my children, but my 4 year old has gotten used to this scene.  My 2 year old was never bothered by it.  This concern would make me think carefully before giving Look! A Book! to some children.

I really appreciate books like this published by Little, Brown.  Now that I review books, I notice who publishes books, especially quality books.  We were given an incredibly beautiful book called My First ABC that features paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art while keeping it simple and bold enough to keep a child's attention.  My first thought was, "Who published this awesome book?"  It was Little, Brown!  Does anyone else find that they are very interested in publishing companies now that they review books?

Giveaway
Little, Brown has offered one LLL reader a copy of Look! A Book!  Please leave a comment below (with contact info if it's not located in your profile) telling me who you would share this book with!  Leave a second comment if you are a LLL follower for an extra chance to win!  You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you do need to live in the USA or Canada.  Giveaway runs through February 25, 2011.


Giveaway winner is #17, Linda Kish!  Congratulations!

I thank Little Brown for making fabulous books and providing Look! A Book! for review purposes.  I also take no responsibility for your children fighting over this particular title.  Yes, that's right.  My children have been known to not want to share Look! A Book!