What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I’m trying to find a children’s book (or series of books) that had large crowd scenes and you would scan them to find various things. Sort of like Where’s Waldo but these would have predated Waldo. I was a child in the late 1970s to early 1980s, so they would have been around then. Within the crowd scenes would be fairy tale scenes like the 3 little pigs, and there may have been a main character that was in each scene as well. I keep thinking that the books are French, though I’m not certain that’s true.


I looked through many of the suggestions in this post but none of them were a match.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Betsy, can you describe the illustrations - realistic/cartoony/cute, simple/detailed, painted watercolors/bold graphics, sunny/dark/muted colors/black & white?

Do they remind you of another illustrator or picture book author?

Thanks for providing a link to that similar request.

Is it one of the Mitsumasa Anno books? They were around in the late 70s and early 80s--I was reading them then!

OMG, yes! It’s the Anno books! You are a genius! Thank you!

Do you think it's Anno's Journey by Mitsumasa Anno? In the English version, a man is riding a horse through old European towns and fields. A couple of fairy/folk tale characters appear throughout the book, but they're not the main focus. I think these "hidden" characters are listed at the back of the book.

Glad to have helped! They’re some of my favourite books!