Where's Waldo? - Participation Book

Where's Waldo, written by Martin Handford is a great example of a participation book. What makes a participation book beneficial to children is that it physically involves them in the story. It can either have them pulling on things to reveal hidden things or finding hidden objects in the illustrations. These types of books not only provide children with good stories, they also make them use their brains and be physically involved with the book. 

Where's Waldo takes the reader on a journey through all of Waldo's adventures during his worldwide hike. The only text that is written is in the form of post cards written by Waldo to his followers. The first postcard introduces Waldo and all the places he's been. Waldo tells the reader to find him, a few of his friends and other objects in each picture. Waldo sends a post card from all the places he went including the beach, skiing, trains stations, airports, the zoo and so on. At the end of the book, Waldo says he lost something during each trip and needs the reader to go back and look for it. He also provides a checklist on the last page so the reader can check off everything they have found on each page. 

This book requires a lot of participation on the part of the reader. This would be a good lesson to teach children about writing post cards as well as working on their concentration and memory skills. After they have read the book once, you can have them read it again maybe on a different day and see if they can remember where Waldo was in each picture. 

What makes this book special is the incredible detailed illustrations. It took Martin Handford a total of two years to complete these illustrations. Where's Waldo? also spent more than 93 weeks in the number one spot on the New York Times Best Sellers List and won the Best Kids Book award in 2003. 

Where's Waldo Official Website: http://www.findwaldo.com/

Handford, Martin. Where's Waldo?. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1987, 1997