Walter Wick's Optical Tricks

by Walter Wick

The winner of a 1997 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for A Drop of Water and contributor to the best-selling I Spy books presents a photographic book of optical illusions sure to stagger and delight young readers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Science, Photography, Art, Design

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

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

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still trying to figure most of the tricks out...even with the answers at the end of the book I am stumped!

[*Ramya* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completely changed the way I look at illustrations!

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great classic from my childhood! I used to love pouring over these optical tricks, and reading the book again as an adult was just as much fun as I remembered it being!

[Tharun Saravanan]

Best book

[Lee]

The text says "flip the page to reveal an impressive wonder" and my eyes said "no, it doesn't change anything, I saw that already."

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids love the I Spy books. The man behind the photography is Walter Wick. His photography has inspired some of my son's photography. So when we saw Walter Wick's Optical Tricks which explains how he makes his optical illusions for the I Spy books we had to check it out.

The book is a good but short introduction to setting up photographic optical illusions. The ones involving mirrors got Sean's attention most. I think because they are such simple devices but create such amazing results.

So our only complaint with the book is its length. It's like an appetizer to photographic effects. I know if there were a longer and more in depth one, we would love to read it.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

152.14 Wick. Kudos to Wick and the I Spy creators. The visuals are interesting in this take off on the much loved I Spy series. The optical illusions are a little more than just finding objects in a sea of other objects. Each page has an optical illusion problem to be solved. The answers are in the back of the book. I was willing to spend more time with this than I have ever been able to give to I Spy. The teachers at my school would prefer I not allow these books to be checked out, as there is little reading to practice, but if it's a choice day, then the I SPY books all go out.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for children of all ages, for it forces the viewer to look closely and understand how an image can deceive you. Each of the images appears to have a certain form, yet when examined closely or from a different perspective, it becomes clear that the structure is quite different.
I strongly recommend this book as a fun way to challenge youngsters and improve their observational skills. Optical illusions are some of the most entertaining things that are also educational.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you trust your eyes? These optical illusions will have you turning the book upside down and right side up trying to figure out how he does it. Luckily the author reveals his tricks in the end.

This is a super fun book for young and old alike. It would make a great gift book and is a must for I Spy fans.

[Miri Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Optical illusions are always fun, and I feel like this could be a good gateway book to show kids that there's interesting stuff in nonfiction as well as fiction (or for kids who don't love to read in the first place).

[R. G. Nairam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I completely forgot about from my own library-visiting childhood, and then a sibling brought it home and I went very OH MY WORD THAT BOOK I LOVE THAT BOOK on them and they looked at me strange.

Yeah.

It's fun.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5 yr old and I loved this book. At the end it tells you how the photos are set up to make the optical illusions.

[Lorna Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Optical illusions in photographs and helps to understand them in the back of the book.

[Noah Wenzl · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was too hard!

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethan couldn't stop looking at this book with the boys. Optical illusions truly are fascinating!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please see my review of this book on my blog at: http://harvestparklibrary.wordpress.c...

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes:
9yo son loves this
photos are real life illusions
solve a puzzle on each page

[Rocco Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about optical tricks.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay for a look, but it really wasn't all that great unfortunately.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is a mind blowing, tricky book.