Search-and-find books like I Spy and Where’s Waldo? have long been favourites for young readers, making them a fun choice for summer reading (or reading any time of the year)! These books have many benefits, including building skills that will help readers along in their reading journeys.
The Benefits
Looking for hidden items in a search-and-find book is an opportunity to develop working memory skills (Scholastic). Working memory is like a “temporary sticky note in the brain” that allows you to remember something while you perform a task (Understood). For example, this could mean remembering one or two items that you are searching for at the same time, or remembering that an item you see is on the list of items to find, even if it wasn’t the one you were currently looking for. Developing this skill is essential for processes like decoding, comprehension, and fluency in reading (Center For Student Achievement Solutions).
A second skill search-and-find books build is visual discrimination: noticing small differences between two similar objects (Scholastic). This skill is also used in reading, where some letters and words look very similar to one another. Being able to quickly spot the differences allows for a smoother reading experience.
So, let’s give it a try! Check out our list of search-and-find books at the library:
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