An Amazing Feat...and Utterly Fascinating to Look At!

books:


	• Look-Alikes Christmas: The More You Look, the More You See! Joan Steiner, 2003 - 32 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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An Amazing Feat...and Utterly Fascinating to Look At!

For those unfamiliar with the Look-Alikes series, creator Joan Steiner makes fascinating scenes using everyday objects--many cleverly hidden! Some people think Look-Alikes involve trick photography, but Steiner assures readers this is not the case. Most of her sets measure four to five feet across, in fact! The painstaking process of the perfectionistic Steiner often takes years. She admits that it took her THREE and a HALF YEARS to complete Look-Alikes Christmas! WOW...that's dedication!

I'm totally intrigued by the Look-Alikes books (we have two), and LOVE trying to spot all of the elements. Look-Alikes are similar to the I SPY books, but don't have the riddles. And, the items aren't so much "concealed" as they are so seemlessly integrated that you don't realize (at first!) what you're looking at! For example, in the Nutcracker scene, one look at Uncle Drosselmeyer's outfit and nothing really stands out. However, upon closer inspection, you realize that the flowing orange lining to his black cape is actually a Dorito!

There are ten lavish sets in the book, each spanning two pages:

*Winter Wonderland - A snowy outdoor scene (The skeleton draped in a bra is bizarre and a poor choice for this scene.)

*The Nutcracker - Dolls come alive in this indoor scene. Look closely--the curtains are made of hair!

*Santa's Workshop - What looks to be a fake nose serves as Mrs. Claus's cap, while orange Circus Peanuts double as elf shoes!

*Grandma's Kitchen - It's obvious that Grandma's apron is a dollar bill, but did you notice that the "spoon" the granchild is using to lick the batter out of the bowl is, in fact, a Q-tip?

*Christmas Windows - Shoppers stroll outdoors, gazing at delightful holiday windows. Women's purses are made up of a lock, a fig newton, a postage stamp, and a packet of pepper. How cool is that?!

*Cathedral - Jellybeans and suckers double as stained glass windows, while vertical bullets (?!) stand in the center of the church.

*Dollhouse - Dental floss as a water closet, a loofah sponge as a hamper, a wooden switch plate as a table top, and a jar of nailpolish as a lamp bottom.

*Toy Train - A loaf of bread does time as a tunnel, while dry spiral pasta makes a neat bow for a present under the tree.

*New year's Eve - A skyscraper made out of a computer keyboard, radiator, and crossword puzzle makes a great background for a bright celebration.

If you love the I SPY or Where's Waldo? books, you'll love the Look-Alikes books by Joan Steiner. I'm partial to the Christmas one, I think, because it was the first one I bought! My 8 year old, a train buff, likes the original because guess what's on the cover? Yep, a train!

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It's all in the details!

my daughter loves all the look-alike books. Look-Alike books are not "I Spy" nor "where's Waldo." It is better! Steiner used tons of little everyday items and put them into a theme-scape. Look closely and you see the train tracks are made of pencils, and the snow-capped mountain-tops are covered with white gloves! It invokes young readers' imagination and surprises even the most well-read adults! These well-done photographs teach us to see things differently. We enjoyed going over the pages and tried to identify all the objects. It is a great book to show kids examples of "it is all in the details!"

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