The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens or more people doing a variety of amusing things at a given location. Where's Wally? (called Where's Waldo? in Canada and the USA) is a British series of children's puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. US: Little Brown & Co then Candlewick Press And he never gives up.A self-drawing of Martin Handford with (left to right) Wizard Whitebeard, Woof, Odlaw, Wenda, and Wally And no matter what terrible things his enemy does to him, he never retaliates. He always smiles and keeps the company of both a good woman and a good dog. (If nothing else, everyone could take a leaf out of Waldo’s book whilst traveling.) Never mind if you find him in Bangladesh, he’ll move on, gathering up his friends and assorted lost belongings before he goes. Waldo finds joy in almost any situation – from seaside resorts to the dungeons of the furthest Neptunian moons. Waldo’s childlike sense of wonder at the world should be an inspiration to us all. Sure, Waldo could show some discretion, but it sends a powerful message of inclusiveness out to today’s children that Waldo is not afraid to be seen with court jesters and is as ready to submit himself to their company as with the fine men and women establishing the first moon colony. And yet, I find it hard to fault him for it.
Seen at Viking banquets, courthouses full of lawyers and at an area suspiciously similar to a brothel, Waldo shows a remarkable lack of morals when choosing his associates. Waldo himself could certainly stand to be more selective on the company he keeps. Odlaw has stolen both his name and his wardrobe from Waldo and it is little wonder that he lurks amongst the pages of the Where’s Waldo? series hoping to in some way undermine Waldo’s efforts at… um… hiding. Plotting against Waldo is his arch-nemesis, Odlaw. Occasional sightings of Waldo’s ex-girlfriend Wilma have been known to happen, but as Wilma is Wenda’s identical twin, it is uncertain if these sightings are always genuine. He is joined on his travels by his dog, Woof, and his girlfriend, Wenda/Wanda. He is also perhaps the only man in the world who hides for a living… all the time. Waldo (or Wally in the original UK print), a brunet in perhaps is early thirties, perpetually wanders the world in blue jeans and a candy-cane striped shirt with matching toque. What did this bespectacled, befuddled, behatted man do to earn the ire of some proportion of the American public? Indeed, while I was stunned to find several of my childhood favorites present, it took me quite some time to come to terms with the fact that this was not a typo.
Of the most banned books of the nineties, none stood out to me with such a force as Martin Hanford’s Where’s Waldo? series. Publication Info: Candlewick April 10, 2007
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