[.ca] Look Alikes Jr.: The More You Look the More You See (ISBN 0316713473)

From Amazon.com:
In this junior version of Joan Steiner's award-winning Look-Alikes, everyday places (such as houses, movie theaters, and kitchens) are constructed from everyday objects (such as crackers, pencils, pretzels, and seashells). Simple, rhyming text accompanies the clever pictures ("To Look-Alike Land! We're blasting full throttle/ On a spaceship that looks like a THERMOS BOTTLE."), but the real focus is the puzzle of identifying the more than 700 objects in the 11 crisply photographed double-page scenes. Younger children will enjoy this book with a parent, discovering such anomalies as train wheels made from daisies and curtains made from lasagna noodles. Older children may enjoy playing competitive games, such as taking turns finding look-alikes or racing to see who can find the most in a set amount of time. (Ages 2 to 10) --Richard Farr

The more you look, the more you like!:
What a wonderful book! I bought the book as a gift for my nephew and enjoyed it so much I nearly didn't want to give it away! Needless to say my nephew was delighted and loves the book. It's a great way to spend quality time with the younger generation, you will get as much pleasure as they do, finding all the cleverly arranged objects. A great way to wile away a cold winter's eve.

Mom finds this book more interesting:
I bought this for my 2.5 year old to look at, but she didn't show much interest. She like the train created, but some of the objects used are not too common for this age group and she doesn't recognize them yet. Have shelved the book for now.

Beware: time trap!!!!:
Don't even look at the cover of this book unless you have at least an hour to spare. It starts -- isn't that a thimble? a calendar page? a domino? a hacksaw? And the next thing you know it's 'way, 'way past bedtime. No matter how old you are or what your bedtime is.

Attention:
This book is a great tool to help your child closely observe details. A short attention span can quickly be expanded by both child and parent as you turn each page of this book. I have used it with my daughter from age 5-8 and now with my 3 year old son. I usually ask them to find items on the page and then discuss how it is neat how the item was used to represent something entirely different. This is great to help them expand their imagination and see outside of the box. Sometimes when you just don't feel like reading some night this gives you a great break. This is a great book and much better than Where's Waldo.

An utterly engrossing way to spend several hours:
Joan Steiner's "Look-Alikes, Jr." is a wonderful follow-up to her 1998 "Look-Alikes." This self-taught artist employs everyday items from chess pieces to lasagna noodles, from nail polish bottles to keys, from crackers to ink pens, to construct the most completely realistic little scenes. There are spaceships blasting off towards outer space; middle-class living rooms; classrooms; general stores, and more, all of which are chock-full of items Steiner employs to look like something else. The aforementioned lasagna noodles? Yes, they're here--as curtains! And they look improbably wonderful as curtains! This is certainly a treat for kids. But you may find that the adults end up buying their own copies of "Look-Alikes, Jr." just so they can sit in peace and be engrossed for hours on their own without having to share this wonderful book with the younger set! Highly recommended!