Welcome!

Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Fifty-One

Search-and-find books are hugely popular these days, and with good reason. They keep young readers busy and engaged for quite a while. The Where's Waldo books are particularly good search-and-find titles, and today I have a review of the first book in the series.

Martin Handford
Picture book
For ages 4 to 9
Candlewick Press, 2007, 978-0-7636-3498-8
Waldo is off “on a worldwide hike,” and he would like you to join him. He is taking everything he needs with him, and he is also taking Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, and Odlaw along. Waldo and his travel companions are rather careless with their things, so keep an eye out for Wizard Whitebeard’s scroll, Waldo’s key, Woof’s bone, Wenda’s camera, and Oldlaw’s binoculars. Then there will be twenty-five Waldo-watchers to meet, each of whom will appear only once in the places that Waldo visits.
   Waldo begins his journey by going to the seaside. He sends us a postcard telling us that he saw “this girl stick an ice-cream cone in her brother’s face.” He also saw something else that sounds too fantastical to be true. Our job is to look at the picture of the beach Waldo visited to find Waldo, his friends, their possessions, and the Waldo-watcher.
   Waldo’s next destination is completely different, and a lot colder. Waldo is in the mountains on the ski slopes. There is chaos everywhere, and Waldo tells us, in another postcard, that somewhere on that mountain he saw a young man giving his girlfriend a bunch of flowers.
   Readers are sure to enjoy the twelve large format one-of-a-kind search-and-find illustrations in this book. The author has illustrated busy and incredibly detailed double page spreads for every one of Waldo’s destinations. Young readers will be able to easily spend several hours exploring the artwork, laughing at the funny situations that Martin Hanford put into the illustrations, and looking for Waldo and his chums.
   This is one in a series of books about Waldo.
            

No comments:

Bookmark and Share