Book excerpt: In THE LOOKING BOOK, beloved author P. K. Hallinan uses lively rhyming verse to invite children to delight in the wonders of the world around them. Given a pair of "lookers" by their mom, two boys venture outside to see what they can find. To their surprise, they discover "tree-things and bee-things and roses and weeds . . . small things and tall things and flowers with seeds," right in their own backyard. Before long, the boys realize that they don't need the lookers at all. Whimsical illustrations and sturdy pages will make this book a favorite with young explorers.