Take a Look. Click the Book.

[Sparkle and Spin by Ann and Paul Rand via Lookybook ]

I love picture books. I could probably sit for hours just flipping pages of picture books, reading and admiring illustrations. So I was quite intrigued by the San Francisco Chronicle's article about Lookybook, a very attractive and smart website that makes it possible to view picture books online. When I think about books being scanned for online digital libraries, I think of people sitting in cramped rooms filled with scanners at midnight scanning page after page after page after page after page with the constant sound of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz in the background.

I wouldn't expect the scans to be very sharp in quality.

But these picture books on Lookybook look amazing on screen. The art work really shines--just take a look at Ann and Paul Rand's Sparkle and Spin!

Of course I am still in favor of having the actual book in hand--there's something about holding a book and feeling the paper and dog-earing my favorite pages that's so comforting. Holding a tablet with a digitized version of a book while I sip my afternoon tea is not the most cozy of images. Nevertheless, I'm still bookmarking Lookybook--just don't tell my local children's librarian.