neat-o online picture books

just a pretty picture of some flowers on a tree down the street from me.  they smell vaguely like the grape-scented pencils we used to sell in the school “supply store” when i was in the 5th grade. mmmm…. scented pencils….

but on to the topic of the post title!  yesterday, i discovered a new (to me) online tool that, as a children’s librarian and lover of picture books, i thought was pretty nifty.  let’s say that you’re at the airport, traveling with children and your flight has been delayed and you are desperately searching for something to do with your kids (and you’re not averse to paying for airport internet fees).  or, let’s say that you’re at home with a sick child and you’ve already read all of the picture books that you own and all of the picture books that you currently have checked out from the library and you can’t really run out to get more books (you’ve got a sick kid!  don’t take them to the library to spread their germs around!).  what do you do?  you go to lookybook.  this is still in beta (which just means that it’s going to get better, and better, right?) and there aren’t an enormous amount of books in the system yet, but … they are there in their entirety!  whole picture books!  endpapers and all!  and the interface is attractive, intuitive and easy to use!  and you don’t have to register in order to read the books!  no, of course this will never replace real picture books, but in a certain kind of pinch, this is a great resource.

now, i only wish that they’d start including more easy reader books.  i can’t tell you how often, when i’m ordering books for this collection, that i could flip through the book to really get a feel for its reading level.  there are a few in the current site, but there doesn’t appear to be a simple way to search for them specifically.  maybe that will come with the next version.