33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Way Too Much Fun, January 28, 2006
This review is from: Where's Waldo? The Wonder Book (Hardcover)
I first got turned onto Waldo books while in college. I was working at a small bookstore, and spied a paperback of Where's Waldo? in Hollywood. I've had it all these years, but recently brought it out of the basement for my 7 year old son. He was thrilled with that book, so I got him Where's Waldo?: The Wonder Book in hardback for Christmas.
While the Hollywood book is difficult, The Wonder Book also has some difficult scenes! In one, I STILL haven't found Wizard Whitebeard. Arggh!
Martin Handford is the creator of the Where's Waldo? books, which features elaborately detailed scenes, hidden objects, and visual puns. The reclusive, bespectaled author works fervently for EIGHT WEEKS for EACH of the 2-page spreads on these books. This means that the Where's Waldo Wonder Book took him 1.8 years to create! Amazing!
My son and I love to pore over the pages--not only looking for Waldo, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, Odlaw, and Woof--but also other clues. For example, Wenda always loses a camera, Woof a bone, the Wizard a scroll, and so on. BUT, at the end of the book, there are TWO pages of checklists for other things to find in EACH of the visual puzzles! Some are quite hard to find. For example, a clown follows Waldo and his friends all through the end of the book. One of the challenges is to find the scene in the book where the clown changes the color of his hat band.
The creative scenes you'll find in the Wonder Book include:
*Once Upon a Page
*Clown Town
*The Fantastic Flower Garden
*The Odlaw Swamp
*The Might Fruit Fright
*The Corridors of Time
*The Game of Games
*The Battle of the Bands
*Toys! Toys! Toys!
*Bright Lights and Night Frights
*The Cake Factory
*The Land of Woofs
Odlaw Swamp and Land of Woofs are *especially* tricky, because all the characters look the same...except for one defining element.
As with all the Waldo books, there's also some great visual puns that will tickle adult funny bones. Make no mistake...the Where's Waldo? series isn't just for kids! I love searching for the characters and items as a way of relaxing and enjoying my son's company.
Highly recommended!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very satisfying, vibrantly printed, November 30, 2005
This review is from: Where's Waldo? The Wonder Book (Hardcover)
This is another excellent Where's Waldo -- almost as sublime as "The Fantastic Journey", a little harder, and just as engaging. As a piece of artwork it's clear that Handford's style is maturing: his lines are more precise, there are more individuals packed into every open space, and there's also a slightly more vibrant color palette. Unlike the other four Waldo books, these twelve scenes are printed digitally. Each miniscule pixelated line edge can be seen upon close inspection, a little disconcerting at first but very crisp and clear -- and probably one reason for Handford's new stylistic developments here.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
When they say "Mini", they really mean it, January 18, 2011
I must have skipped over the exact measurements of the book if they were listed. With no point of reference in the photos, I assumed this was going to be a normal sized book and the magnifier was only needed because there was so much packed in to the pages. But this thing is SMALL. If you get this, just make sure to keep in mind it is only 6-inches by 5-inches. And from my memory of it when I gave it to my niece, those measurements may be generous. It's exactly what you expect to get in a Where's Waldo book (a bunch of pictures and things to find) but I wrote this review to emphasize it is really, really small. If I had known this when I bought it, I would have gotten one of the normal-sized books.
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