Where's Waldo?

For other uses, see Where's Waldo? (disambiguation).

Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford is the first book in the Where's Waldo? series. It was originally published in 1987.

The book introduces Waldo, a distinctively dressed man, as he sets off on "a world-wide hike". Waldo travels to everyday places — such as the beach, a ski slopes, and a department store. The book features 12 detailed illustrated spreads of different locations. Somewhere amid the crowded scene is Waldo and readers are asked to search the detailed illustrations to locate the lost traveler. Each scene is accompanied by a postcard to the reader from Waldo, who introduces the scene and comments on his travels.

Waldo sets out on his journey equipped with 12 items to help him on his travels. He carries a walking stick, kettle, bird, cup, backpack, sleeping bag, binoculars, camera, snorkel, belt, bag and shovel. As Waldo journeys from location to location he loses one of these item, and asks the reader to locate the object left behind in each scene as well.

At the end of the book there is a collection of checklists of other things to find in each spread. Readers are asked to go back to the beginning and re-explore each scene locating other objects, gags and people in each picture.

Scenes[]

In Town
On the Beach
Ski Slopes
Camp Site
The Railway Station
Airport
Sports Stadium
Museum
At Sea
Safari Park
Department Store
Fairground

Appearances[]

Characters[]

Waldo

Objects[]

Walking stick, kettle, mallet, cup, backpack, sleeping bag, binoculars, camera, snorkel, selt, bag and shovel

Later editions and re-releases[]

See also: Changes in Where's Waldo? re-releases

The book was originally published as a 12.5" × 10.1" hardback. Since then, it has been reissued in several formats and sizes, including paperback editions and "mini" editions that included a magnifying glass.

The "On The Beach" scene was re-released as a poster in The Magnificent Poster Book!. New characters, such as Wenda and Wizard Whitebeard, were inserted into the image for the poster along with other minor changes to scene.

Where's Waldo? was re-released in 1997 by Candlewick Press along side the other original Waldo books in an updated "Special New Edition" to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series. This second edition moved the location of Waldo in each scene and inserted new characters to spot – including Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, Odlaw and the Waldo Watchers – and their respective lost objects. Each of the special edition books also included a new "person who appears in every scene" (in this book that person is a dark-skinned man with a white shirt and red tie). The overall design of Waldo was also updated to match the more current character model.

This updated version went on to become the standard "second edition" of the book – replacing the original first edition for subsequent releases without the anniversary "Special Edition" border. "The Railway Station" page was retitled "The Train Station" for the second edition and the "Camp Site" was updated to "Campsite." Another notable change included censoring the topless sunbather from the original edition that had gotten the book banned from several public schools.

A third edition was released in 2014 as an anniversary "Deluxe Editions." This edition featured "new searches," updated artwork, and a collectable poster. Each page had fold out flaps to reveal additional checklists of things to spot in each scene; this also revealed what was behind the the postcard in the upper-left corner of each scene. The “Deluxe Edition” revised some of the original artwork to remove or modify depictions of cultural stereotypes, smoking, substance use, nudity, and violence.

Cover gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

In the early part of the 1980s Martin Handford was working as a freelance illustrator, specializing in drawing crowd scenes. After seeing some of Handford's artwork, David Bennett, a business associate and an art director at Walker Books in England, contacted the artist about developing a children's book showcasing his singular talent. It was only then that the character Waldo was conceived. Waldo was created to provide a link between each crowd scene and provide a focus and purpose for the book. Handford explained in a 1990 interview that "a book full of crowd scenes has no central theme, but adding a wacky character for the reader to look for adds a purpose to each page. That's who Waldo is - an afterthought." ^[1]

Handford first began working on the book in 1985. Handford illustrated each the 12 scenes for the book - working at time for more than eight weeks to create just one of the two-page Waldo spreads. David Lloyd, a Walker Books editor, helped Handford polish the minimal, yet necessary, text found in the postcards throughout the book. Handford insists there is no science behind where Waldo was hidden in each page. He says that as he would work his way through a picture, and simply add Waldo when he came to what he felt was "a good place to include him".^[2]

When Handford first designed his leading man, he named him Wally - a shortened formed of Walter or Wallace but commonly used in Britain as a slang term for a somewhat spacey person. However the American publishers of the books felt the name would not resonate with the North American readers; so when the book was finally published there in 1987, the character was renamed Waldo (different name changes were made in other countries, such as Charlie for France and Walter for Germany).

After two years of development, the book was finally released in September 1987. A follow-up book, Find Waldo Now, was released less than a year later in September 1988.

Despite originally being "an afterthought" to tie Handford's illustrations together, the public responded to the character of Waldo. Handford stated "as it turns out, the fans were more interested in the character than in the crowd scenes."^[1] The success of the book and character led to more Waldo books by Handford and related spin-offs and tie-ins.

Awards and honors[]

Where's Waldo? spent more than 93 weeks in the number one spot on the New York Times Best Sellers List ^[3].

Awards:

The Arizona Young Readers' Award Winner - 1991
Bilby Awards Winner - 1992
Bilby Awards Winner - 2001

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Entertainment Weekly. "Up Against Waldo". December 14, 1990.
↑ Candlewick Press Bios - Martin Handford. CandleWick.com.
↑ The New York Times Best Sellers List Archives

[EW-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Entertainment Weekly. "Up Against Waldo". December 14, 1990.

[2] Candlewick Press Bios - Martin Handford. CandleWick.com.

[3] The New York Times Best Sellers List Archives

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