Where's Wally? The Incredible Paper Chase

Martin Handford spent much of his childhood drawing - his earliest influences were cinema epics and playing with toy soldiers. At art college he says he drew "busy and militarily correct battle scenes" which led to his job as a freelance illustrator specialising in drawing crowd scenes. Each picture in his Where's Wally? books takes Martin months to draw. "As I work my way through a picture, I add Wally when I come to what I feel is a good place to hide him," he explains.

1. 5/5

   I bought the books because they bring back wonderful memories from my childhood, but once my children started to browse them, they also became addicted to this very fun and old game of hide and seek. On the most basic visual level, the superbly drawn illustrations and the intricacy of each spread make them a pleasure to come back to, over and over. The level of detail in the visuals - requiring only basic text - makes it perfect for sharing across generations and across cultures, as there's room for everyone to enjoy it. At the same time, the "discovery" format is both educational and entertaining for children, who love the sense of achievement they get from finding Wally. Wonderful! :-)

   K.C.

   26 april 2013