Product Description

In Look-Alike Land, the more you look, the more you see! Using everything from acorns to zippers, artist Joan Steiner has created stunning three-dimensional scenes that will amaze and captivate puzzlers of all ages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103899 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Amazon.com
"Come along! Jump aboard! Grab hold of my hand. / We're crossing the border into Look-Alike Land." So invites the opening lines of Joan Steiner's Look-Alikes, a three-dimensional miniature metropolis that's meticulously, ingeniously crafted out of everyday objects from mousetraps to milk bones. At first glance, a fancy hotel lobby seems just that, but take a closer look and you'll see a sofa made of gloves. In a sunny street scene, a building façade is laden with crackers, crayons form fence posts, and the tree is shaded by a stalk of broccoli. Children and adults alike will love poring over each picture, most of which contain more than 100 objects cleverly arranged to delight and deceive. Kids will easily identify many household objects, and the ones they may not recognize--a hosiery garter or flour sifter, for example--they'll learn from either the guide in the back or from a helpful parent. Good humor, a keen eye, and hours of hard work went into this visual marvel, which should be equally captivating for artists and I Spy fans. (Ages 5 to 105) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
In this dazzling debut, first-time picture book author/artist Steiner employs clever visual puns to create a whimsical parallel world. Using found objects, she painstakingly assembles three-dimensional collages that re-create everyday scenes, then photographs the results. What ensues is a tour de force of trompe l'oeil. Pistachio nuts on stems form a bouquet of "tulips" in a hotel lobby scene, where a tiny guest sits cozily on a "couch" made from a pair of cupped gloves. A city skyline reveals a modern skyscraper composed of a stack of CDs; two doors down a cowbell perched atop a vintage cookbook mimics the architecture of an earlier era. Dog biscuits laid end-to-end form the brick-like facade of yet another building, while at a park, a shoehorn "slide" and a sandbox made from an inverted tambourine abut a "water fountain" that's really a shell perched atop a chess piece. In this world where nothing is quite what it seems, slices of bread pave a sidewalk; infant pacifiers double as gaslights; pretzels affixed to round crackers become chairs at an old-fashioned soda fountain. Readers will pore over the enchanting visual similes, nearly 100 in each scene, in their attempts to detect each one. There's even a key at the end that offers a complete list of the look-alikes, to ensure none are overlooked. The amount of work that went into each tableau is staggering; the end result sheer delight. Bursting with creativity, this work of visual genius will set imaginations soaring. All ages.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4-Bold, full-color photographs of three-dimensional collages made of found objects create a puzzle book that is sure to please. A multitude of everyday items are cleverly arranged to create realistic miniature scenes of a train station, city street, general store, park and zoo, amusement park, hotel, neighborhood, sweet shop, circus, and harbor. While the title is similar in format and execution to that of Jean Marzollo's "I Spy" books (Scholastic), Steiner creates her own unusual look-alike worlds using everything from broccoli to razors to dominoes. Mousetraps are towers, crackers form the facade of a building, pretzels are seat backs, and a coffeepot is a train engine. Four-line verses challenge readers to find particular articles on each of the 11 double-page spreads. All of the objects are listed in the back and hard-to-find items ("for super-sleuths only") are highlighted with asterisks. Guaranteed fun.
Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Bait and Switch
Beware, all the pictures in this book have already been published in different cover, an earlier edition. If you think it is a new book of Steiner's work, it isn't, so don't get suckered.

A treat for your eyes and your child's brain
I wish this book had been around when I was young--I would have sat looking at it for hours. The illustrations are games for the eye and the mind. "Look, the wheels are doughnuts!" "Oh, they made teabags into windowshades!" The pictures tease the child into looking further and further, while the adult marvels at the patience and ingenuity of the author. If you have ever been fascinated by miniatures or dollhouses or train model layouts, you will love these books.

Endlessly interesting for kids and adults alike!
Joan Steiner's "Look-Alikes" is endlessly interesting for kids and adults alike. This self-taught artist employs everyday items--tea bags, Fig Newtons, miniature hair combs, matches, tissues, strips of licorice, graham crackers, torn-up sponges, pencils, and so much more--to create the most astonishingly lifelike scenes.

You can see everything from a port city with boats arriving to a soda shop to a candy store to a classroom, each filled to brimming with trinkets and everyday articles of every kind, each employed as something other than what it really is (Fig Newtons as seat cushions, for example). The result is utterly fascinating. You will spend hours looking through the book--you may even, as I have, try to hide it from your kids so YOU can finish looking at it! Highly recommended.