My 5 year old son, Ryan, has been a fan of the I Spy books for a while now. We own one (not by choice; the dog gave it a good chewing and we had to purchase it from the library!!) along with I Spy computer software and an I Spy preschool puzzle game. I don't enjoy the books too much, because at his age, Ryan requires a lot of help to find all of the items listed in the riddles on each page. He is an advanced reader and able to read most of the riddles, he just cannot find all of the sometimes tiny items in the cluttered world of I Spy. So Mom needs to help, and Ryan will not often be able to put the book away until we (read: I) find all of the riddle items in the scene.

The Look-Alikes series of books by Joan Steiner is a perfect alternative. We still get to experience the fun of hunting around for things to spot on the pages, yet there is not a long list of items to find, and with each experience, readers are likely to find new objects that they missed during previous readings. Here is an explanation of the Look-Alikes books, from the introductory page of Look-Alikes Christmas.

At Christmastime, we love the gifts
That come as a surprise,
And if you look inside this book
You won't believe your eyes:
For all things you thought you knew
Appear in some disguise.....

In the Look-Alikes books, Joan Steiner creates miniature scenes using everyday objects. For example, the first page spread in Look Alikes Christmas is called "Winter Wonderland" and is an outdoor scene of a ski lodge, ice skating rink, mountains, etc. Cracked open coconuts represent large chunks of ice, asparagus spears, coral, and pine cones look like trees, and white chocolate covered pretzels, white conversation heart candies, aspirin, sea shells, and white packing peanuts simulate snow on trees and bushes. The next page spread is called "The Nutcracker." The Nutcracker ballerina is poised on her toes. She returns every winter-yet she's fresh as a rose. Each page gives a two line "clue" of one or a few items to find; in this case, the ballerina's shirt is a silk rose. So kids (or their parents!) don't have to search endlessly for several items on each page; they can simply look around the scene to recognize what items the scene incorporates. In this Nutcracker scene, there is a Christmas tree with "presents" underneath it. These presents are represented by things like a wooden block (with a small piece of cauliflower on it to simulate a bow!), a cough drop in a wrapper, dice, and other things. Just taking a look at the book now in writing this review, I noticed that a spool of thread and two sewing stick pins (the kinds with the little balls at the top) represent a toy drum and drumsticks!

The book continues with the following scenes: Santa's Workshop (the elves make little toy wagons, made from dog biscuits and buttons for wheels), Grandma's Kitchen (a boy tastes something yummy from a mixing bowl with a Q-tip "spoon"), Christmas Windows (shoppers created with a cell phone, a potato, and other items look into shop windows to see Santa, an elf and house made of crackers, cinnamon sticks, and peanuts), Cathedral (playing cards, colorful lollipops, and even a few toothbrushes create the stained glass windows), Dollhouse (an upside-down drinking glass serves as the shower curtain in the bathroom), Toy Train (a train car is made to look like a boxcar with a 5 shade card of paint color samples), and New Year's Eve (flowers and other greenery look like fireworks bursting in the sky, a computer turned on its short side with an electrical outlet strip positioned behind it simulates a skyscraper.)

Following the scenes, Steiner includes instructions/recipes and stencil templates to make Peanutty Bear Ornaments, Edible Elves, and Cathedral Window Ornaments. After this is a Behind the Scenes two-page section, in which Steiner discusses the items she uses to create the scenes, how she comes up with ideas, etc. The last pages reveal all of the items that were used in each scene and where, and how many Look-Alikes there are in each layout. Asterisks indicate the hard to find items - for super-sleuths only! As an extra challenge, readers can read a simple riddle and go back to find this item in all of the scenes.

Why Do I Love This Book?
It is a new experience each time you sit down with this book and notice things you did not see before. Yet there is no list of things to search for, making you squint your eyes and/or give up in frustration.

It is fun to look around the scenes and notice, "Hey, that elves feet are made out of marshmallow elephant peanuts candy!" and have your kids find things on their own.

This book will also give readers ideas for creating their own Look-Alikes scenes, either for fun or perhaps a school project. Look-Alikes Christmas is highly entertaining the whole year round; I recommend this or any other Look-Alikes book (Look-Alikes: The More You Look, the More You See, or Look-Alikes Jr.: Find More Than 700 Hidden Everyday Objects.)

If someone you know likes the I Spy series, tell them to give one of these books a "look"! (sorry! couldn't resist!)

Have you read to a kid today?

~ Maria

Look-Alikes Christmas by Joan Steiner, ISBN 0316761532, retail $14.95, hardcover (Scholastic Edition), published by Megan Tingley Books/Little, Brown and Company, copyright 2003.

Recommended: Yes

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