In this article, we share the best seek and find books for kids of all ages — broken out by seek and find books for toddlers and preschoolers, kids ages 6 and older, seek and find picture books and finally the benefits of reading seek and find books for kids. Let’s get into it!
I’ve always had an enormous attraction to books – even when I was too young to read. While part of it was due to both of my parents being big readers, being surrounded with books all the time also helped develop this love for them.
And it wasn’t only the books that my parents would read. In fact, they would make a point to buy me a storybook my age for each novel that they would purchase for themselves. Between the ages of 2 and 8, my favorite books to get would be seek and find books for kids.
At least one book from the I Spy or Where’s Waldo series would make it into my Christmas gifts every year. For my birthday, I would often ask for a trip to the local bookstore. I have many fond memories of flipping through these seek and find books for kids on a hot summer afternoon, wondering where Waldo was likely to end up next. Even today, these books send me into a beautiful world where everything is perfect.
And for this reason, I believe that every child should experience the magic of these look and find books. Though the options were quite limited when I was growing up, there are now hundreds of variously themed seek and find books for toddlers and young kids today.
Today, I will review the best of the best in this category, so you know what to buy for your child.
Seek and Find Books for Toddlers & Preschoolers
To make things easier, I have split the seek and find books for kids to discuss today in two groups, based on the audience’s ages. Let’s begin with the books meant for toddlers and preschoolers aged 1 to 5 years.
Where’s the Pair?
Britta Teckentrup is a well-known name when it comes to seek and find books for toddlers. And just like the rest of her books, Where’s The Pair? also features beautiful and detailed illustrations. In this one, children are challenged to find the pair of animals with the same pattern on them.
Help! My Dinosaurs are Lost in the City!
Follow 27 naughty reptiles around the city in Webber Book’s Help! My Dinosaurs are Lost in the CIty!. While playing hide and seek with these friendly dinosaurs, your child gets to explore the various places in town. Together with the highly detailed illustrations, the lovable dinosaurs’ clever hiding places will widen your toddler’s imagination while keeping them occupied for quite a while.
Where’s Walrus?
In Where’s Walrus, Stephen Savage takes the kids into the adventurous life of a clever walrus. Before the Walrus can cause much commotion, the kids must help the zookeeper find him and bring him back! Are your toddlers up for the challenge?
The C.R. Gibson Gibby & Libby Here, There and Everywhere Seek and Find Book
Featuring the beautiful artwork of Jill McDonald, the Gibby and Libby, Here There and Everywhere has been created by C.R Gibson. The playful details of this seek and find book for kids allows for hours of immense fun, giving the parents a much-needed break.
The Peppa Pig Look and Find Activity Book – PI Kids
Kids these days all love Peppa Pig! And this is why they would like this look and find activity book created by Susan Rich Brooke too. This seek and find book enhances one’s ability to focus, gives them a sense of rhyme, and teaches them basic shapes and counting.
In the Peppa Pig Look and Find Activity Book, their favorite cartoon character makes an appearance with various objects and friends to find in 8 busy places. Can your toddler help Peppa look for them all?
The Sesame Street – E is for Elmo! ABCs – My First Look and Find Activity Book
If your little one is a devout fan of Elmo and friends, then take a stroll down Sesame Street with this incredible look and find a book for kids. Featuring their favorite cartoon characters, this book has lots to offer.
The Sesame Street – E is for Elmo! is a part of a big series of seek and find books that focus on teaching multiple early learning concepts to the children. Coming from the Editors of Phoenix International Publications, you are guaranteed some quality fun learning with this book. Let your toddler search, point, and match their way to the end of the puzzle with Elmo and Big Bird.
Seek and Find Books for Kids
Now that we have talked about the younger group, here are some worthwhile titles targeted towards kids aged 6 and above.
The Disney Pixar – Toy Story 4 Look and Find Activity Book
Now explore infinity and beyond with the Disney Pixar – Toy Story 4 Look and Find Activity Book created by the Editors of Phoenix International Publications. This little book will help develop your child’s searching, matching, and reading skills to a new level. And if they complete all the challenges in the book, simply flip it to the back cover to find even more!
With this hardcover puzzle book, fun and learning never have to stop. Accompany Woody, Buzz, Jessie and friends to adventures that leave your child amazed.
The Nickelodeon – Paw Patrol – Little Look and Find Activity Book
The Nickelodeon – Paw Patrol is yet another fun look and finds activity book by the Editors of Phoenix International Publications. This book is the perfect excuse for spending some quality time with your kids. And in case you are too busy or need a break, encourage their independence by having them match and find the objects by themselves.
Ryder, Chase, Skye, and friends are on a beautiful journey of identifying shapes, learning to count, and much more. Is your kid ready to join them on their adventures?
The Disney – Mickey & Friends Look and Find
In The Disney – Mickey and Friends by the Editors of Phoenix International Publications, kids travel through time and space to meet various interesting characters. The beloved Mickey and Minnie Mouse from Disney is here to take them to rock the Stone Age or to joust in Medieval England. If this was not enough, you could even take a sneak peek into the future!
On the way, you will be met with aliens, pirates, robots, and much much more. Get ready to be bamboozled by all the fun things that happen all along!
The BigFoot Goes Back in Time: A Spectacular Seek and Find Challenge for All Ages!
The Bigfoot Goes Back In Time by D.L. Miller is a fun-filled seek and find a challenge that your child is guaranteed to love. Travel through time with Bigfoot to learn how far the world has come in only a few years. Learn about the first man on the moon, the Vikings, visit medieval castles, and much more on this reading adventure. This beautiful puzzle book is a must-have if you want to build up an interest in history for your kid.
The Disney Princess Cinderella, Tangled, Aladdin and More!- Look and Find Activity Book
Does your little one love the Disney Princesses? Then make their day by getting them The Disney Princess Look and Find Activity book created by the Editors of Phoenix International Publications. This is a foolproof way to get your kids to enjoy a long car ride, instead of complaining every two seconds.
Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jasmine, and more are here to teach your child about basic math concepts, matching like images, and looking for hidden objects in busy pictures. This educational activity book mixes fun and play to keep your child engrossed in math! Did you ever think that would be possible?!
School Zone – Big Hidden Pictures & More Workbook
For ages 6 to 8, the School Zone – Big Hidden Pictures is one of the best looks and find books on the shelves today. Written by Joan Hoffman, this 320 pager has hundreds of various puzzles to allow your kid to have fun and grow at the same time. In addition to the classic Search and Find games, it also features a wide variety of picture puzzles, mazes, crosswords, and colour by number activities. And if your kid wants to take a specific page to school to show their friends, simply tear it out along the perforated line!
Seek and Find Picture Books
Here are some of my personal favorite seek and find picture books that tell a story. Your children will enjoy the story while they search and find various items.
Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug!
Search throughout the house to try to find a little ladybug among many familiar items, perfect for small children who are just learning to identify various shapes, sizes and animals. The words are rhyming, so it has a fun lyrical story to help children find the hidden ladybug on the pages.
Adele and Simon
Adele picks up her brother Simon from school and he has an assortment of items with him. As they walk home, distractions cause him to leave something behind at every stop, which results in trying to find the lost object on the page. It is set in Paris and walks you through many iconic Parisian landmarks and scenes.
Spot, the Cat
This wordless book is a story of a boy trying to find his wandering cat along the streets of black and white drawings. There are so many great details that kids (and adults, too) will get lost in the many things on the page as they are trying to find the cat. It is a charming book and will provide many hours of entertainment for your little one to enjoy looking at!
The Bear’s Song
Papa Bear is looking for Little Bear, (who is looking for a bee in search of honey) in this delightful book written and illustrated by Benjamin Chaud. They travel from the forest to the city and the expressions of the bears’ faces and the details of the illustrations will capture children and adults alike, as they search and find for the bears and other items on the page. A wonderful seek and find picture book!
Mice in the City, Around the World
Written by Ami Shin, this seek and find picture book follows a mouse around the world from Paris to Brazil to Namibia. While they are looking for the mice, children will learn about geography and cultures around the world by looking for various things on a passport at the top of each page. A sweet, darling little book with wonderful illustrations!
The Benefits of Seek and Find Books for Kids
In my personal experience, I have noticed several advantages to these seek and find books. These have not only been reaped by me as a reader but also my parents. Here, we will talk about the most important of them.
They instill a love of reading in kids from a young age
You would have learned how today’s readers make tomorrow’s leaders. When reading is so beneficial at grooming a personality, building the habit from a young age becomes essential. These seek and find books will help you do just that for your kids.
Like I mentioned before, my look and find books played a significant role for falling in love with reading. Even when I couldn’t read, I loved to look at the beautiful illustrations in these books, trying to make stories of my own to go with them. Growing up with these books instilled a habit of reading in me that I still carry around with pride.
They help kids develop their memorization skills
For the young mind to develop adequately, it is essential to indulge in things that enhance your memory. Getting your kid their favorite seek and find books is a smart way to achieve that.
Looking at an image on one page and trying to find it in another busy illustration requires you to remember what it looks like. By directly involving your hippocampus and cerebral cortex, these books help in the correct development of the brain and memory areas.
They enhance a child’s existing vocabulary
While reading these seek and find books, young kids come across many words that they have not heard before. Thus, these books also serve as a great learning medium. They help children to associate words with their pictures and learn what they mean.
And when parents read out these stories to their kids, it also builds their pronunciation and language skills. And the best part – these books do all of these great things while keeping it fun!
They teach your child to focus on a task
Searching for and finding a particular object in a busy image requires focus, concentration, and patience. These are all the things that your child ends up practising when enjoying a look and find book. These books gradually increase your child’s attention span – something that is desperately slipping away from us in the modern era.
These books keep the kids away from unhealthy activities
The favorite pastime of a modern-day kid is to either play video games or watch YouTube. Though both of these can be extremely educational experiences as well, they are also very addictive. And we all know what too much screen time can do to any child’s health.
If you find it difficult to tear your child away from the screen, consider investing in a few seek and find books for toddlers. By keeping the children immersed in them, you can successfully keep them away from unhealthy activities.
Children also spend a lot more time looking at search and find books than other books, so these are great for when you have a long car ride or want them occupied for a longer period of time.
The Final Word
While seek and find books help kids learn and grow in a million different ways, the best thing about them is that they are incredibly fun. With the right look and find book, you can keep your little ones busy for hours at a time. And while they are learning new things and falling in love with the habit of reading, you can get your much-deserved break to look after yourself.
If you have a favorite seek and find book that you would like considered to be featured, please feel free to contact us!
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