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By Mom Unplugged, November 14, 2007 9:42 pm

Amazon.com, in its review, calls this book “the most cultured alphabet book around.” Play the game “I spy with my little eye” …with art!

Each page is a different famous painting and the reader is asked to find an object in the painting beginning with a letter of the alphabet. A fun way to learn the alphabet and gain some art-familiarity too.

My 5 year-old “find-it” book fan found this at our local library and he loved it so much that we had to buy a copy to keep. In the same theme Lucy Micklethwait also wrote I Spy Shapes in Art and I Spy Animals in Art. We have since acquired these, and they are equally as fun.

The find-its are not terribly challenging and children quickly learn where to find the object mentioned for each painting, but opportunities are limitless for finding other objects that you designate. Also, my kids just like looking at the paintings and pointing out details.

If you want an “educational” find-it book, then give one of these a try.

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By Mom Unplugged, September 11, 2007 8:33 pm

My children and I just adore the sweet tale of how a stray cat makes himself a part of a lonely lady’s life. The illustrations are as delightful as the story.

I like to consider this book both a story book and a find-it book because in every two page spread, the kitty is hiding somewhere in the room. This adds a little element of fun to a nice bedtime read.

It seems that Amazon might be doing away with Where Is That Cat?. I don’t know if it has gone out of print or if it is just harder to find. My advice: grab this one while you still can! Also try shopping around: Ebay and Half.com are good sources for hard to find books at reasonable prices.

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By Mom Unplugged, July 5, 2007 9:55 pm

The Look-Alikes series is wonderfully clever! Almost everything in the picture is actually something else, for example a tree might be broccoli, or a fence post might be a crayon. I can’t imagine how long these photos took to set up.

There is a list of all objects in each photo at the end of the book, so you can see how you did (if you want to). Personally, I prefer to just be happy discovering new objects each time I open the book. Unlike many other find-it books where you quickly learn what’s there, you can look at this book a hundred times and still see something new.

There is also a Look-Alikes Jr.: The More You Look, the More You See! with less detailed photos that are easier for younger kids to search.

The books are great for travel since they seem to keep kids happy for quite some time. This is entertaining searching for children as well as adults. Our favorite traveling-on-the-airplane game is when the adult says: “I see a penny” or “I see a comb” for example, and the kids have to try and find it.

Also check out Look-Alikes Christmas: The More You Look, the More You See!. I have not personally seen that one, but it sounds fun. If anyone can comment on the Christmas book, I’d love to hear from you!

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By Mom Unplugged, June 20, 2007 8:37 pm

This is a find-it alphabet book with a twist. The challenge is to find each letter of the alphabet in very realistic paintings of scenes of city-life (New York City is the inspiration). Some letters are very obvious, others not so easy.

I did an experiment, and upon opening the book randomly, the letters were hidden well enough that I couldn’t always figure out what I should be looking for. But if I went through the book in order so that I KNEW what was supposed to come next, it was easy (for me as an adult), but often quite cleverly disguised.

This is a really fun book for pre-readers (no words, just letters to search for) and readers alike. It is a great travel book, or one to keep in the car. It really makes both kids and adults learn to look at everyday objects with new eyes.

The artwork is truly amazing and each page is a pleasure to look at. No wonder it is a Caldecott Honor Book!