Lookybook

You certainly can’t judge a book by its cover, especially a picture book, in which the illustrations tell a good bit of the story. Now, parents, educators, and other fans of the genre can peruse picture books from cover to cover on Lookybook.

If you haven’t already seen—the beta site launched last fall—do give it a whirl. The page-turning technology works intuitively and although it doesn’t replace cozying up with a physical book, it does enable users to browse whole titles and, better yet, compare and share with other “Lookybookers.” Registration, which is free, allows you to comment and create your own bookshelf. Children under 13 are not permitted to register. However, a Lookykids offshoot is in the works, according to the site.

But any visitor to the site can view the books, searchable by keyword, author or illustrator, subject or genre. Just browsing? There’s a randomly generated BookTumbler and sets representing new titles, the highest rated, and the most looked at. With some imaged pages, average-sized type becomes illegible, but plenty of books in this format can be read from start to finish.