Peek-in story book

The disclosure relates to a story book wherein the rear cover is of increased thickness so that it can hold the necessary transparencies and optics therein for viewing and wherein predetermined pages of the story book are provided with apertures aligned with transparencies and optics associated therewith so that the viewer can observe the scene being depicted on a transparency by locking through the aperture on the page. The transparency illustrations which are disposed in the book rear cover, in one embodiment, are encased in opaque tubes, each tube being aligned with one of the apertures on the book pages. Each of the tubes includes a magnifying lens on the side of the rear cover closest the apertures on the pages and a transparency of the scene to be depicted between the lens and the portion of the rear cover remote from the apertures. A transparent, translucent or frosted screen can be provided on the side of the transparency remote from the lens to permit the entry of diffused ambient light through the transparency and also to protect the transparency from outer elements. In a second embodiment of the invention, the fixed transparency is replaced by a film reel rotatable by means of a crank so that a plurality of scenes can be observed through each aperture of the book.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a children's story book and, more specifically, 
to a story book wherein pictures of unknown, secret, inaccessible places 
or the like can be observed by viewing predetermined locations on a story 
book page. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Story books and especially such books for children typically include 
illustrations in great number depicting various aspects of the story being 
read either by or to a child. These pictures are two-dimensional in nature 
and merely illustrate that portion of the story which is being read. It is 
desirable to add to the prior art story books for children an additional 
element which will increase the child's desire to read or have read to him 
such story books and which will enhance the child's curiosity. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, the above desired improvement in 
prior art story books for children is provided wherein, as pages of the 
book are being read, the child can look beyond the usual illustrations in 
the book such as, for example, by looking into a window of a normal 
two-dimensional house and observing a photograph of the interior of the 
room within the house. The contents of this room are provided on a 
photographic transparency or the like and can be enlarged by providing 
appropriate optics between the photographic transparency and the viewer. 
Briefly, the above is accomplished by providing a normal type story book 
except that the rear cover is of increased thickness so that it can hold 
the necessary transparencies and optics therein for viewing and 
predetermined pages of the story book are provided with apertures aligned 
with the one or more of the transparencies and optics associated therewith 
so that the viewer can observe the scene being depicted on a transparency 
by looking through the aperture on the page as directed. The transparency 
illustrations which are disposed in the book rear cover are, in one 
embodiment, encased in opaque tubes, each tube being aligned with one of 
the apertures on the book pages. Each of the tubes includes a magnifying 
lens on the side of the rear cover closest the apertures on the pages and 
a transparency of the scene to be depicted between the lens and the 
portion of the rear cover remote from the apertures. If desired, a 
transparent, transluscent or frosted screen can be provided on the side of 
the transparency remote from the lens to permit the entry of diffused 
ambient light through the transparency and also to protect the 
transparency from outer elements. Also, other features may be added such 
as, for example, a bell within the rear cover which can be rung upon 
shaking of the book or, the pages themselves can be scented in well known 
manner to provide a scent of the type expected from the scene being 
viewed. 
In a second embodiment of the invention, the fixed transparency is replaced 
by a film reel rotatable by means of a crank so that a plurality of scenes 
can be observed through each aperture of the book. 
It can therefore be seen that there is provided a story book of standard 
type with the addition that interesting scenes can be viewed through the 
pages via strategically located apertures thereon to enhance the pleasure 
and curiosity during the reading of the story book.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a story book 1 having a front 
cover 3, a rear cover 5, interior pages 7 and a binding 9. The front cover 
3 and binding 9 are the same as in the case of standard books and will not 
be discussed further. The pages themselves, 19 and 21, as can be seen in 
FIG. 2, include text 11 and pictures 13. While text and pictures can be 
provided on both of the facing pages 19 and 21 shown in FIG. 2, the 
picture 13 will preferably be on a right hand side and include at least 
one aperture 15 which is aligned with the aperture 17 when the page 19 
rests over the page 21. It can be seen that the pages depicted in FIG. 2 
will be toward the front end of the book and instructions to view the 
aperture 15 through the aperture 17 will be provided on a prior page since 
the aperture 15 can be viewed through the aperture 17 from at least the 
page prior to the page noted as 19. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a pair of pages 23 and 25 which are 
substantially the same as those depicted in FIG. 2 except that they are 
positioned later in the story book. The aperture 17 can be seen as well as 
the aperture 15. In addition, there are additional apertures 27, 29, 31 
and 33 on page 23 which align with the apertures 35, 37, 39 and 41 
respectively on page 25. 
The rear cover 5 is shown in FIGS. 4 through 6. The rear cover includes a 
pair of cover sections 43 (FIG. 4) and 45 (FIG. 5) which fit into each 
other to form an enclosure. The back cover portion 43 includes apertures 
therein aligned with the apertures 15 and 35 through 41 and any other 
apertures not shown in the drawings and also includes, aligned with these 
apertures, the optical viewing axes of a plurality of optical viewers 47, 
each viewer aligned with one of the apertures in the cover 43 and viewable 
through the apertures 17 and 27 through 33. The cover portion 45 includes 
apertures 49 which align with the viewing members 47 and also are aligned 
with the apertures 15 and 35 through 41. The rear surface of the back 
portion 45 is shown in FIG. 6 and includes a surface 51 which resembles 
the rear cover of any story book except for the apertures 49 extending 
therethrough to provide light to the viewing elements 47. The viewing 
elements 47 can be individually positioned and secured to the back cover 
portion 43 or can be molded as a single unit 53 as shown in FIG. 4. 
Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown one of the optical viewing elements 
47 in accordance with the subject invention. An optical element of this 
type is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,281 for Peek In Model Kit. 
There is shown the rear cover portion 43 to which is secured a holder 
portion 55 of the viewing tube. A tube portion 57 is secured to the holder 
portion 55 and a magnifying lens 59 is secured at the interior portion of 
the tube 57. The tube 57 includes a flange portion 61 having a cut-out 
region 63 which supports a transparency 65 such as a photographic slide 
having the scene to be depicted thereon. The transparency 65 is secured to 
the tube 57 in the cut-out region 63. If desired, a translucent, 
transparent or frosted screen can be provided on the side of the 
transparency 65 remote from the lens 59 to provide protection to the 
transparency from external elements. As can be seen in FIG. 4, a plurality 
of viewing members 47 as shown in FIG. 7 are provided, one viewing member 
associated aligned with each of the apertures 17 and 27 through 33, the 
lens 59 being positioned, for example, at the aperture 15. The optical 
viewing axes of the viewing members 47 are along the axes of the tubes 57. 
It can be seen that, starting from the front of the book, anywhere from 
none to all of the viewers are accessible therethrough, depending upon the 
apertures therein. However, once a view is to be made accessible to 
viewing through a particular page, all subsequent pages as well must have 
an aperture aligned therewith. 
Other desirable features can be provided within the story book. For 
example, as shown in FIG. 4, a bell is provided whereby, upon shaking of 
the story book, the clapper 67 will strike the bell 69 to provide a 
ringing noise. 
Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown a second embodiment of a story book 
in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, one or more 
apertures 71 is provided in the front cover 73 of the story book. An 
optical viewer similar to that shown in FIG. 7 is aligned with each of the 
apertures 71, however, the optical viewer is altered so that the 
transparency 65 of FIG. 7 is replaced by a plurality of connected moveable 
transparencies on a reel which are moved upon rotation of the crank 75. In 
this way, the story is depicted by pictures rather than in printed manner. 
As an alternative, the embodiment of FIG. 8 can be provided in conjunction 
with a story book as depicted in FIGS. 1 through 6 to provide an action 
scene rather than a still scene when viewing a particular aperture to 
depict a particular portion of the story being read. 
As a further embodiment, referring to FIG. 8, the crank 75 can be secured 
to a scroll containing the story text. The story text would then be viewed 
upon rotation of the crank 75 either through one of the apertures 71 or in 
the region 77. In either case, the other apertures 71 would contain fixed 
transparencies therein. 
Though the invention has been described with respect to specific preferred 
embodiments thereof, many variations and modifications will immediately 
become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore the intention 
that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of 
the prior art to include all such variations and modifications.