Look! A Book! A Zany Seek-and-Find Adventure

Look! A Book! written and illustrated by Bob Staake. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. ISBN 978-0-316-11862-0

Reader's Annotation: "Look! A book! A hook! A cowboy cook!". With these three clues, a quirky seek-and-find journey begins. Before it ends, seekers will have located items such as a barber pole, a gooey splat, a troll, and a monkey bite. What will you find?

Summary: Staake's creativity overflows in these wacky scenes full of activity and detail. Die-cut holes provide a peek into the next two-page spread, and are accompanied by rhyming text listing which items are to be found. 

Each illustrated scene is organized around a theme such as Museum Creatures Escape, or Treetop Town, and there is a great deal of silliness on every page. Upon reaching the book's last scene, Staake reveals another surprise: a gate-fold list of many more items hidden in the book. The fun is nearly endless, but when readers have found everything on the list, there is more: Staake's follow-up work, Look! Another Book!



"ROBOTS built here one by one! 
Bang 'em! Clang 'em! Till they're done. 
Can you find the mini one?"


Critical Evaluation: The interactive nature of Look! A Book! encourages children to completely engage with the work. The multitude of silly activities and marvelously zany creatures that Staake manages to pack into each two-page spread will leave children giggling and flipping to the next page to see what happens next. An added bonus to sharing this book with a child will be the conversations that result from observations and discoveries made while searching - it creates the perfect opportunity to share a love of reading.

Staake's use of bright, saturated hues adds to the energy depicted in each jam-packed scene, while his clever, rhyming text supplements the light-hearted nature of the illustrations. This book can be enjoyed on many different levels, and is suitable for pre-readers right on up to adults. The youngest seekers can search for the items highlighted in the bubble-shaped die-cuts, while more advanced readers will want to find everything included on the gate-fold list. Whatever the intensity of the search, Look! A Book! offers readers an imaginative and enjoyable pursuit.

Age or Interest Level: Ages 3 to 93

Awards: ---

Why Included? Where else can you see such wackiness? Also, learning that Staake creates his digital images on vintage computer equipment adds another layer of charm to the work.