Walter Wick’s search and solve picture series Can You See What I See? is a must-have for any child’s bookcase, or even your coffee table. The series has several themed books, such as On a Scary Scary Night and Night Before Christmas and Once Upon A Time. If you remember and enjoyed Where’s Waldo?, then you will enjoy these books.
On a Scary Scary Night is a Halloween-themed picture book with hidden objects cleverly drawn into each illustration. There is a list of items for readers to find, or try to find. The book starts out on a scary scary night and zooms in as you turn each page, traveling in a scary scary town, then on a scary scary street, then atop a scary scary hill, and so on. The illustrations are clever, detailed, and fantastically colored. Even though it is a Halloween-theme picture book, none of the illustrations are too scary for my 4-year old. However, each search is challenging, so he tends to gives up when he gets stuck and moves on to the next page.
I am so glad that I discovered this series. This book in particular teaches kids to look closely and that things are not always as frightening as they at first appear. Even after my son outgrows this book, or finds all of the objects, I plan to keep these books around for my adult friends. I have no doubt that they will be stumped as well in their search!