All aboard the Toyland Express! (and a giveaway!)
By Jessica on November 29th, 2011
Admittedly, I give a lot of advice every day. The words “You should read
this…” comes to mind. But allow me to give you another piece of advice: If anyone ever offers you the opportunity to visit the Walter Wick studios, GO! Don’t even think about it. Just go! You won’t regret it.
I was lucky enough to be invited one Wednesday afternoon to the studio with other bloggers to talk about Water Wick’s new book Toyland Express, the latest in the Can You See What I See? series. I was one of the coolest places I have ever been. It is a place where you can see magic happening…and it does on a regular basis while creating books of art and imagination.
Toyland Express is a book that follows the story of the life of a toy train. That’s the larger story. The rhymes tell the smaller story; the tiny hidden images within the photographs. One book tells both stories in the most amazing way, the only way Walter Wick can. 
It struck me as Mr. Wick was talking that he was creating books that he would have wanted to read as a child. I asked him about being a reluctant reader when he was younger and was that why a large part of the narrative in his story was visual. “I’m trying to make it more organic and I don’t like anything that’s preachy. I don’t like anything that tells you how things are supposed to be. I don’t like moralizing. But, I like that values can be subtly embedded. In something like Toyland Express, the train is reused. It’s not thrown away.”
It was an absolutely amazing day in an amazing place with some amazing people! I started out giving advice so let me give you just one more piece: You should read Toyland Express! Did I mention it is amazing?
GIVEAWAY: We’re giving away signed copies of Toyland Express! Leave a comment telling us what your favorite Walter Wick book is and we’ll choose three winners. Must be 18 or older to enter; valid in the U.S. only. Deadline to enter is Friday, December 2, 2011, at 5pm ET. Need the complete rules? Find them here!
Posted: November 29th, 2011 under Uncategorized. Tags: books, Picture Books, reluctant readers.
25 comments
Comments
I SPY SPOOKY NIGHT is my all time favorite Walter Wick book. I’m a school librarian and my students can’t get enough of the I SPY books. They’re fabulous!
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 5:02 pm
At my house we like I Spy Christmas. My youngest loves nutcrackers and so she really latched on to this book. I like Can You See What I See? Dream Machine because I love the illustrations.
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Our favorite Walter Wick book is Can You See What I See?: Cool Collections!
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 5:43 pm
We do not currently have a favorite Walter Wick book, but will definitely be checking some out now. Thanks for the review and giveaway . Maybe this will be our favorite.
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 6:14 pm
This time of year our favorite is I Spy Christmas. Thanks so much for the chance to win!
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 6:25 pm
I haven’t seen his books before, but I’ll keep my eyes open for them. They look fabulous. My little one would love it.
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 9:06 pm
This time of year it’s the I Spy Christmas. We always have at least one of these books available in the classroom at all times (usually more than one copy!) 
Comment on November 29, 2011 at 10:26 pm
You mean pick just one?! My daughter loves all these books and in fact we are currently working our way through another one at bed time. I’ve had to hold her to doing just 2-3 pages a night to make the book last a little longer. lol.
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 1:12 am
We love I Spy Christmas! I love Christmas books and my kids love I Spy books…it is something we can share!
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Can You See What I See? Once Upon a Time is my fave!! Who doesn’t love searching fairy tales?
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 5:01 pm
I Spy School Days and any of the I Spy series rocks! =)
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 5:03 pm
I haven’t read any of these with my daughter but I just looked them up and the Treasure Ship looks like fun!
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 5:09 pm
I SPY CHRISTMAS. Is my favorite!!! Love it!
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 5:13 pm
“I Spy Ultimate Challenger” is my ultimate favorite. Best pages: Saturn, and the Venn Diagrams!
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Oh! We love all the Walter Wick books, but I Spy Christmas is so beautiful and magical to look at! We have ALL of them so far.
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 6:43 pm
We love all of Walter Wicks books. My granddaughters’ favorites are I Spy School Days and I Spy Christmas!:) Can’t wait to get this newest one!:)
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 6:53 pm
We love this type of book – keeps on offering up new surprises each time it is read!
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 6:57 pm
I love I Spy Christmas. So sweet.
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 7:06 pm
someone pls suggest me where i can get the I spy book. wht site can i, go to download the christmas and reindeer pictures on my pen drive from the internet i am not a comp savvy pls help
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 8:27 pm
I teach a photography summer school class each year for 4th & 5th graders. We spend a couple of days looking at Walter Wick books, his website and video. We agree he has the best job ever! The kids then create and photograph their own I Spy scenes. What fun.
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 8:50 pm
We love the “I Spy” books!
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 9:18 pm
We have an I Spy book that uses the tag reader. We love it, but I’m not sure if it is a Walter Wick book. However trains are a huge hit in my house – kiddo can’t get enough of his trains.
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 11:05 pm
as much as the kids and I LOVE all the ISpy books I spent some time at a Walter Wick museum exhibit recently and fell head over heels in love with A Drop of Water… stunning.
Comment on November 30, 2011 at 11:32 pm
My favorite is the I Spy Christmas, but my family is a big fan of all of the books.
Comment on December 1, 2011 at 4:28 pm
My kids enjoy the I Spy Christmas book.
Comment on December 5, 2011 at 9:34 am
