Find It! Canada.

Janet Collins is a freelance writer in Sechelt, British Columbia.

Forget Waldo. Picture puzzle fans of all ages will enjoy this colourful activity book, but children will find it especially appealing. Not only do the 14 Canadian scenes contain a puzzle, they offer up a fun way to teach readers about various aspects of Canadian history and culture.

While some lessons are obvious, such as the words to the national anthem in “Canada Day in the Capital” and the French words in “Winter Carnival,” the puzzles themselves are where the real fun is found in this book.

Clues are presented for each puzzle. Some are regional words, such as “bolo tie” in the “Stampede” puzzle, or “polar pileup” on the “Land of the Midnight Sun” page. Others are a play on words. For example, in the “Land of the Midnight Sun” puzzle, readers are asked to find a “caribou-hoo,” while a white horse peeks out from the “Gold Rush Country” page (a thinly veiled reference to Whitehorse, an important supply centre during the Klondike Gold Rush). If you’re a Habs fan, you might not guess that the “huge Leaf” clue in the “Summer in the City” puzzle refers to a hockey player. But that’s all part of the fun.

Also hidden within the fanciful images are bits of Canadian trivia. What better way to introduce young (and older) readers to the fact that V-chips—those clever devices that allow parents to block out TV programs they feel inappropriate for their children—were invented in B.C. (although Wikipedia notes that Ontario and the U.S. are also making the claim). Want to know the height of Mount Logan? It’s the clue that will help you find the mountain in the “Gold Rush Country” puzzle. There’s lots of regional humour, too.

This book is pure fun and games—and a lot of great lessons in Canadiana.