“She’s the one with mad eyes, gulping like a fish”

IHAVE an idea for a book! I have to admit it owes an awful lot to Where’s Wally?, the series of children’s books created by British illustrator Martin Handford, but let’s put that aside for a minute, while I flesh my idea out for you.

Handford’s books consist of a series of large but minutely-detailed illustrations depicting hundreds of people doing amusing things in different locations.

The reader’s challenge is to find a time-traveller called Wally, who’s hidden in the crowds. Wally always wears the same distinctive red-and-white striped shirt, bobble hat and glasses, but the deceptive use of red-and-white striped objects in the illustrations — a sort of “red herring” ploy — means that finding Wally is quite a business for a six year old.