Lookybook

Check out the amazing new website Lookybook which allows you to access an entire picture book online. An article over at Publishers Weekly discusses this new site. Their archive is somewhat limited at the moment, but it’s new and will grow! I think this will be a boon to picture book sales (good for authors and illustrators), but I’m also a bit concerned that it will take even more business away from local book stores (booh!), since I think that this is one reason folks still go into book stores–to see hardcover copies of picture books before deciding to purchase. However, it does look like the folks over at Lookybook are trying to also partner up with Booksense to serve the online independent book stores. Smart! But, consider heading over to your local bookstore online (Find them by visiting Booksense and typing in your zipcode; it’s as simple as using Amazon.) once you find a book on Lookybook you wish to purchase. Thanks to folks over at the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (NESCBWI) listserve that I belong to for bringing this to our attention. NESCBWI is a local site of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I can see how this site will become a huge resource to teachers as they are always looking for new and old picture books to use in their classroom instruction.