Where's Wally? The totally terrific tin by Martin Handford

Walker Books, 2017. ISBN 9781406374926
A wonderful collection for children from 6 years and up. This Where's Wally? set contains the first 3 books and is beautifully presented in a colourful tin, making it a fantastic present for any young Where's Wally? fan. The three books are Where's Wally?, Where's Wally now? and Where's Wally? The fantastic journey.
Each book invites the reader to not only search the pages for Wally, but also for many of his friends including Wanda, Odlaw and the Wizard Whitebeard. This feature keeps Wally hunters amused for longer and as it's recurrent in the 3 books enables them to build character knowledge and maybe even create their own stories about what they are doing. The back of the book also provides 'The Great Where's Wally?' checklist giving extra objects and people to find.
I really like that each book has a theme, which carries throughout the pages. Each theme can also lead to extra investigation, such as letter writing from book 1 (Where's Wally?), going back in time in book 2 (Where's Wally now?) and fictional/mythical times from book 3 (Where's Wally? The fantastic journey). Each of these keeps Wally hunters interested and searching for more.
The illustrations are wonderful and it is amazing what you can find when delving deep into Martin Handford's drawings! I love the scenes he creates within the pictures - be it two people arguing or small children playing a game. Because you are scouring every inch of the page you come across them often, and they do bring a smile to my face.
Lauren Fountain