When I was a child I fell in love with search-and-find books! I searched through every Waldo book that I could get my hands on for that elusive striped man and one of my greatest pet peeves was when my siblings circled his location in ink. (Anyone else have to suffer this great injustice?!) One of the millions of aspects of parenting that I love is introducing my childhood favorites to my own kids. Search-and-find books happen to be on of them. Waldo is a definite given in our house, and since most of you know him already, below are some wonderful “waldo free” search-and-find books. I have tried to order them from easy to difficult with the easier ones being at the top of the list and the more difficult ones at the bottom. (In my opinion.) Happy searching!
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“Deep in the Forest: A Search and Find Adventure” by Josef Anton and Lucie Brunelliere- My kiddos are obsessed with this oversized board book and its neon, animal filled pages. It is so much fun to look through and even the youngest of toddlers can play.
“Animosaics: Can You Find It?” by Surya Sajnani- This large board book uses beautiful and bright mosaic patterns to camouflage various items that you are challenged to find in the pages. It is captivating and so much fun for littles to search through.
“Seasons” by Philip Giordano- This lovley, large board book has such a beautiful and effective design. Each page spread has two wheels that show what item/creature you are searching for as well as what color. Love!
“Pip’s Big Hide-And-Seek Book” by Thais Vanderheyden (releases July 1st)- This delightful new search-and-find book introduces Pip and his 100 mouse friends. They decide to play a game of hide-and-seek and you get to help Pip find all 100 of them as you search for 10 mice for every page spread. The illustrations are quirky and so much fun to search through. Plus, the mice aren’t too hard to find which makes it especially fun for my toddler to play along too.
“A B SEE” by Elizabeth Doyle- This ABC board book is beautifully designed with fun objects and animals crammed into each letter of the alphabet. (Objects and animals that start with that corresponding letter of course!) So much fun to look through and with an extensive index at the end it can take up quite a bit of time.
“Disappearing Acts: A Search and Find Book of Endangered Animals” by Isabella Bunnell- In this book you are searching for endangered animals in page spreads that artistically depict their environment. With beautiful swirling colors and illustrations it is a treat to search through.
“Spot, the Cat” by Henry Cole- This beauty is an all black-and-white book with lots of fun little details and beautiful texture on each page spread. Through the book you are searching for a cat named Spot who is adventuring around the city.
“The Bear’s Song” by Benjamin Chaud- This book is richly illustrated, part of a small series, and a personal favorite of mine. It starts with little bear sneaking out of the den to chase a honey bee and papa bear heading out to search for him. Through each page spread you follow their journey and help papa search for baby bear.
“Treasure Hunt House: Lift the Flaps and Solve the Clues” by Kate Davies and Becca Stadtlander- This is a different kind of search-and-find book. It follows two children who are doing a scavenger hunt inside their aunts house. Each page spread is a different room in the house and has a different clue/riddle to solve and flaps to lift and search through for the answer. I have never seen anything quite like it and it’s so fantastic!
“Find Me: A Hide and Seek Book” by Anders Arhoj- This oversized book is packed with illustrations that are vividly colored and full of quirkiness. Open the book on the blue side and search for the blue bear on each page spread, or open the book on the red side and search for the red bear on each page spread. Either way is a lot of fun!
“Animal Camouflage: Search and Find” by Sarah Dennis and Sam Hutchinson- This is a unique search and find book where the animals you are searching for are hidden alongside bunches of other animals that are cut-out of intricate paperwork. It is trickier to search through than it seems.
“The Walkabout Orchestra: Postcards from Around the World” by Cloe Perarnau- This search and find starts with an empty recital hall and a stressed conductor who needs to find all of his orchestra musicians who are out on holiday around the world. Each page spread thereafter features a different location around the globe along with a postcard from the missing musician or two that you need to find there. In the end the orchestra hall is full and the concert can commence. We LOVE this one!
“Cycle City” by Alison Farrell- In this book the animals in cycle city are preparing for a bike festival and your job is to help the mayor find different individuals in town as he organizes the event. The illustrations are SO cute and the quirky details are so fun to look through!
“Once Upon a Magic Book” by Lily Murray and Katie Hickey- This book is a search and find adventure as our two protagonists (a boy and girl) head out on a mission to find doors and keys and more. There is a bit of a story intertwined and each page spread shows a different part of their journey. SO beautiful and SO clever!
“Mice in the City New York” and “Mice in the City London” by Ami Shin- These oversized books feature full illustrations of popular landmarks in the cities that are teeming with adorable mice! (Over 1,700 mice in each book!) All the shenanigans of the darling little mice have me completely won over and I’m excited to see if there will be a third installment to this series. It’s so cute!
“A Thousand Billion Things (and some sheep)” by Loic Clement and Anne Montel- Each page spread of this book is filled with a “thousand billion things” that are teeny tiny and you are looking for one or a few items that are very specific out of the bunch. It can take a bit of time and gives you great satisfaction when you reach success.
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