Where's Wally: The Colouring Book by Martin Handford
| Where's Wally: The Colouring Book by Martin Handford | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: The ultimate challenge, combining intricate colouring with searches for something which you normally see in colour. Fiendish. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? No |
| Pages: 64 | Date: March 2016 |
| Publisher: Walker Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1406367300 | |
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Are you looking for something relaxing, easy to complete and which will allow your mind to wander freely as you gently colour in a pleasing design? Do you want to indulge your imagination and use the colours which tempt you at the moment, content that it will not affect the finished creation? Would you like large spaces which you can shade in large swoops as it pleases you? Are you aiming for a soothing finished product which is easy on the eye?
Sorry: you've got the wrong book.
I know colouring books are supposed to be relaxing, but this one is anything but. If I had to sum it up in one word it's fiendish and I might even put it in capital letters and bold. You see, what you're getting is one of those fiendishly (there you are - that word again) complicated pictures where you have to find Wally. Usually, you at least have the benefit of knowing the colour of his hat and that the sweater has red and white stripes, but this time the picture is in black and white and you have to supply the colours. And some of those figures are positively minuscule.
Right - are you following me so far? Good - because it's going to get more complicated. (Did I promise you it would be easy? No - I didn't.) Wally's lost his colouring pencils and there's one in each place he's visited. And he's being particularly careless right now as he's also dropped five sketches - his key, Woof's bone, Wenda's camera, Wizard Whitebeard's Scroll and Odlaw's binoculars. You'll have to look very carefully for these as they each only appear once in the book. Well, he'll only have made one sketch of each, won't he? Oh, by the way - those colouring pencils. There are twenty-seven of them.
Now, don't relax. When you get to the end of the book you'll find lists of other things for you to search for including such things as Whistling Whistler painting his mother and a concussed dragon. No - an unconcussed one won't do.
It's not unusual for books of this type to be described as 'giving hours of fun'. Well, that doesn't apply here: there are weeks or even months of fun (or torture) to be had for a relatively modest cover price. The book has a softback (but with flaps to keep your place) so isn't really going to work as a travelling colouring book, but the paper is of good quality and I tried them with felt tip markers and there was no bleed-through on the reverse of the page.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy of the book to the Bookbag.
This is the first colouring book we've seen where you actually have to search as well as colour. For something nearly as complex, we can recommend Field Guide: Creatures Great and Small (Field Guides) by Lucy Engelman. Sherlock: The Mind Palace: The Official Colouring Book by Mike Collins would also appeal to young people. For a search book which you don't have to colour first, have a look at Where's Asterix? by Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny.
Where's Wally: The Colouring Book by Martin Handford is in the Our Top 10 Colouring Books for Lockdown.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Where's Wally: The Colouring Book by Martin Handford at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Where's Wally: The Colouring Book by Martin Handford at Amazon.com.
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