Dragon Quest

I just recently purchased this book and must say that the graphics are amazingly done. I admit that it is a bit hard to find some of the items in the pictures but that just makes it more challenging. The artwork alone is enough to purchase this book.

I read this book with my 4 year old! I loved it and so did he! The book was harder than what he could do, but instead of finding every item- we would look for just one of the many. It is difficult, and I did find that I needed to "cheat" at times. The pictures are wonderfully done. However, I warn you if you are looking to read this to your younger child- I just spent an hour trying to settle my son into bed because he said he was scared because the book gave him the "creepies". I don't know what it was that scared him exactly, but it seemed that he was having a hard time understanding it was really only a story book.

I bought this book for my eight year old because of the gorgeous illustrations. I'm not much at all for seek and find books, but I thought he would like it. I found, however, that when he and I sat down together we became completely cuaght up in the book. It is rather difficult, but I guess some kids are better at it than others because Dylan loved it and did much better than I did. What makes it fascinating and much more interesting than other seek & find books is that there's a story that weaves through the different pages. It's really part seek & find, part logic puzzle and part story. And, of course, the illustrations are beautifully done. I thought the characters--which you really sort of get fond of after following them through the different puzzles were rather reminiscent of Lewis Caroll. Anyway, my son and I had a wonderful time going through the book together, and I'm definitely going to try others by the same author.

Many of the books I read with my son make my spirits slip down into my loafers. Dragon Quest is the exception. Nick Harris's sly, romantic, detailed illustrations warrent the hours it takes to complete the seek and find games. My son points out that, unlike most of these kinds of books, if a character loses a shoe in one illustration, in the next he's wearing either an odd gerrymandered shoe, or a holey sock. There is a consistency of imagination and -- dare I say it? -- vision. Books like this one make excellent presents for 8-10 year olds. Their parents will thank you.