A few years ago my mom was cleaning out her house and handed me a box of books from my childhood. Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo? was among them and my older son immediately confiscated it. He spent many nights poring over the book trying to find Waldo. Even after finding Waldo he would continue scrutinizing the pages, laughing his head off at some of the funny goings-on found in each scene.
Waldo, known as Wally in England where he originated, made his debut in 1987 with that same book I owned, wearing his signature red and white striped sweater and matching hat and hiking gear as he visited a beach, ski resort, campsite and 9 other detail-filled locations. 6 more books were published, new characters and scenes were added, and now, Waldo’s adventures have moved to the internet.
WheresWaldo.com is a fun interactive site that takes searching for Waldo to the next level. Kids can search four animated scenes for Waldo, his friends, their lost possessions and several other items on the checklist. A login is not required to search, but some of the features aren’t available without logging in, and found items are only saved with a login. In addition to the searches, kids can create their own Waldo avatar, insert the avatar into a scene, and then email it to friends for them to find. Another fun feature is the ability to upload your own vacation picture, add Waldo and his friends, and then email it out.
One of the more recent Waldo books is Where’s Waldo? The Great Picture Hunt! Kids will visit Odlaw’s Picture Gallery and peruse the portraits, then track down the portrait subjects in the crowded scenes. Frame stickers add to the fun, as do spot-the-difference puzzles, silhouettes to be matched and of course the usual hidden objects. Finding Waldo is also a great travel activity, and The Ultimate Travel Collection has five Waldo adventures packed into one soft cover journal-sized book.
To celebrate the launch of WheresWaldo.com, we are offering a selection of Waldo books to 1 lucky winner, U.S only. Leave a comment below and the winner will be announced on August 3. This giveaway is closed.
Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.
Nancy has fond memories of searching for Waldo. She writes about her 2 boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.
How cool! I had no idea there is a Where’s Waldo website! Our kiddos are going to love it. 🙂
My son is just getting old enough to “get” this kind of book. We would love them!
We love all kinds of find the person books. We have a set of Christmas ones that my kids pour over each year.
We’d love this…both of my kids like hide and seek adventures!
I remember the Waldo books from when I was a kid and I am certain my children would love them too!
I think my boys would love this!
Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
My daughter loves books like these:
. Hidden pictures
. Find the differences
. Wordfinds
My children loved Where’s Waldo ~ I’d like to share this book with my grandchildren
My son LOVES hidden pictures and “find the…” puzzles, and I bet he’d love Waldo too!
I’m so glad Waldo is still around, I think my grandkids would love to look for him. They love the I Spy books.
seriousreader at live dot com
We love Waldo. He’s a great activity for car trips!
someluckydog at gmail dot com
Love Waldo!!
This would be fun to own!
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
Would love to win this book.
Congratulations Tammy, you won! Please reply to this email with your mailing address. Thanks for entering!
My son loves books like these. Thanks!
I LOVED Where’s Waldo and would be so thrilled to share with my three children! Thanks for the chance…..
Please enter me for this contest.
My kids love search and find books and Where’s Waldo is one of my favorites!
I’ve always thought that the perfect easy-make Halloween costume would be a Waldo outfit. Not that I’ve ever used it yet–but maybe someday…
My grandchildren would love this.
I remember Waldo Books when I was a kid. I would love to share it with my own daughter. Thanks for the chance!
I loved waldo when I was young. My son would love this!
My granddaughter loves Waldo and would be thrilled to receive these books.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
My son loves Waldo. He constantly brings home different Where’s Waldo books from the library, so he would love this!
my nephew loves these books
nannypanpan at gmail.com
I love waldo, thanks!
When my children were younger we had two of the Wheres Waldo books. They loved trying to find him in the different pages, lot’s of fun-
My granddaughter would really like this book.
Luv, luv, luv this opportunity!
I use to love these books when I was growing up, so entertaining!
I love books. My son would really enjoy this one.
we love Waldo books thanks for the giveaway
ABreading4fun[at] gmail [dot] com
ohhh, my son loves Where’s Waldo & Where’s Wally. I’ve been wondering about why they were different – we have copies of both names -, but finally figured out that “Wally” came from our cousins who lived in Australia at the time they bought the book for us. Makes perfect sense that he’s the English version!
Just saw Where’s Waldo today on our recommended books for the kids we work with. I’d love to share these books with them! Thanks!
I can’t wait to check out the Where’s Waldo website. Waldo is a favorite at our house, and the kids LOVE searching in the books for him! We’d love to win a new book!
i loved waldo as a kid–can’t wait to share him w/my daughter!
mearley1979 at gmail dot com