I Spy Treasure Hunt: A Book of Picture Riddles

I Spy

by Walter Wick (Photographer), Jean Marzollo

With 24 million copies sold, the bestselling I Spy series is being relaunched with new designs and foil covers.

This bestselling book features riddles that send readers searching for hidden objects in 12 photographs with treasure hunt themes.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Art, Kids, Classics, Pirates

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Walter Wick is an American artist and photographer best known for the elaborate images in two series of picture book activities for young children, I Spy and Can You See What I See?, both published by Scholastic.

Reviews

[♥ℂĦℝΪՖƬΪℕÅ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 FUN STARS

Here is another childhood favorite :) This whole series of books was extremely popular when I was in elementary school. My review applies to the ENTIRE series. Jean Marzollo's Rhymes at the bottom of each page listing all the different objects you must find, are complex. Walter Wick's books are art in themselves. They are beautiful pieces of work and the thought put into setting them all up is truly incredible. Each book is loaded with riddles and pictures, there is a lot of brain power being used. They can be pretty hard to locate at times, therefore, its always best to play with family and or friends. Besides everything is funnier when you're playing with others. These books are so much fun for kids and adults alike! Add a few friends and let the fun begin.

[October · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was a kid, and I'd still enjoy all the pictures, to be honest. The miniatures are so intricate and well-crafted, and there's a mysterious, almost magical atmosphere to the various sets. I remember the picture-search element of the book being somewhat on the challenging end when I was younger, but that made it more enjoyable, because you really had to comb through all the details of each page. Even once I found everything, I used to linger on each photo, just because the miniature scenes were so engaging. For me, this book was fascinating and enchanting, and I have incredibly fond memories of it.

[Edward Backman · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were some challenges and some hurdles (especially since ours was the German edition!) But we made it eventually, and found all the pins buttons and coins, and eventually the lost treasure! Good fun!

[ciel · Rating 5 out of 5]

so edward and i found out we had the same mad book as children. what can i say, it's not getting worse (it may even v well get better?!) when returning to it almost 20 years later. can't believe this is on goodreads. spent some solid *hours* on this and there's still ein Fass and ein Herz missing.

[Heather R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not ashamed to admit: I want to read all these books!

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

My toddler is a visual learner and loves all of the I Spy books. She always has one or two checked out from the library. They have been great vocabulary builders for her because there are so many items in the pictures that I would not otherwise think to show her. I do not usually read the text to her. We enjoy talking about what she sees, or I will randomly choose things to tell her I spy, and she looks for them. Sometimes, we will look for the items listed in the text together.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fairly typical book in the "I Spy" series. While the designs and pictures are very intricate in all of these books, most times they just creep me out. I must admit that I liked this book more than most in the series; it wasn't nearly as creepy as the one with the clowns (shudder!) But the items are hard to find for our girls, so they get frustrated easily. We end up picking out the items we like the best.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one it was challenging and fun. I loved how they took one set and made a journey of it. Very unique and beautifully crafted.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revisiting my childhood in these tumultuous times.

[Cassandra Regine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My entire decision of moving to New England was based off this book.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept with the pictures all tying in to one another. Many things were very difficult to find, however.

[Patricia Kaniasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids grew up loving these type of books. Please keep them coming. My grand babies will love them too.

[♥ I’d Rather Be Reading ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Count: 2+

4.5 stars

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SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)

In this I Spy book, we take a trip to a quaint little miniature seaside town, where we zoom in and out on each page for some fun treasure hunt themed I Spy riddles.

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REVIEW:

This is one of the big hardcover I Spy books and I think it's my favorite of all of them.

Each of the riddles and pages are challenging and fun to just look at. I love the attention to details in that each page is a different part of the same seaside town. Some pages we zoom far in (like The Treasure Chest Store window) and some we zoom far out (like The View From the Fort page). And others we focus in on different buildings or areas of the town. It's such a neat concept and done so well.

All my kids love this one, especially my seven year old daughter (who has loved it since she was five or younger, I can't remember).

Some pages are quite dark (like Shelter From the Storm and The Cave pages) and makes it hard to see. But, fun fact: use a flashlight to shine around on these pages and you can see them better, plus it makes things even funner for your kids.

Overall this is a great I Spy book. Probably my favorite out of all the (10+) that we own.

[Marissa Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite installations in the I Spy series.

These books are wonderful for triggering ones imagination and building observational skills.

This book in particular, is a good way to show how you can tell a story without needing words if you arrange the images in a understandable way, but I could be a bit biased having been an arts major.

[birdiezone · Rating 5 out of 5]

i haven’t read this book recently but i just came across the concept of “utopian scholastic designs from a pre-9/11 world” and this particular book / its accompanying series is a literal perfect representation of the theme. growing up , there were so many books with this similar concept of cover on it and i couldn’t quite put a finger on wtf it was called until now.

[Patrick Wadden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although perhaps has the BEST puzzles in the series, treasure hunt is truly the automate challenge.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from my childhood. Every page is another bit of magic in the path you follow through the town to the end. It’s on my coffee table now and will go to my kids.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these types of books; they are just fun to try and find everything.

[aknyy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the only non-fiction I'll ever read.

[Lucas Adelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT book

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

We like the series, but this book was not as good as others we have done. Many of the photos are way too dark and it is hard to make out the image, much less find the items you are looking for.

[Juliet McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda like this book because it's hard to find the stuff that's hidden in the picture

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this so much, I need to buy my own copy!

[Talon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Treasure. Pirates. And finding them in awesome pictures?? Yea 5 stars

[Holleah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of "I Spy" books mostly because I find them time consuming and frustrating when you can't find that last one on the list! This "I Spy" book, however, was great because everything was easy enough to find and I would love to have it in the classroom because it is great at occupying time. It is a little bit harder than some of the "I Spy" books meant for younger children so I would watch the age of students you give it to.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 4 out of 5]

These things are still fun. It can even be occasionally challenging. One thing I never understood though is that there are so many hidden objects on each of the pages that the book doesn't ask you to find. It seems like a waste, a good idea would have been to have different levels of things to find, one intended for young children, one intended for middle aged children and one to add more challenge for older children and adults.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have four children and we own each " I spy " book. These books are truly our favorite and they are not just for the young. Each picture makes them think, explore, and problem solve all on their own in a very different way. Ethan had cancer as a kid and these books are amongst the things that got us through the series of hospitalizations over 18 months.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hidden-picture type book. G's great-grandmother got this for him. He is WAY too young for it, but he loves looking at the pictures and asking me about what he sees. The pictures are challenging even for me, so I'm sure older kids would enjoy this series.

[Anna Hardesty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these books whenever I was in Elementary school.
It kept me busy and made me use my noggin.

So if you're trying to work and your kids on getting on your nerves, plop them on the couch with one of these. =D

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy parousing through these I Spy books with my children. We all had some difficulty with this one and couldn't find all the hidden objects before it was due back at the library. Perhaps we will check it out again in the near future and give it another try.