Ali Mitgutsch and other famous wimmelbook authors

A wimmelbook, also known by the German term "Wimmelbilderbuch" or hidden picture book, is a wordless book featuring detailed imagery. Often, one must comb it over carefully to find a specific person or thing. Ali Mitgutsch, born in Munich on August 21, 1935, is arguably the father of the genre. He died on January 10, 2022, aged 86.

The first of Mitgutsch's books, "All Around My City," was published in 1968. It won Children's and Youth Literature Award the following year. The classic picture book shows everyday scenes of life in a busy German city in rich, cartoonish detail. Mitgutsch created several other large-format books in this style, and they can still be found in many German households with small children.

If Mitgutsch is the father of the wimmelbuch genre, 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch could be seen as its early godfather — though his work certainly does not fall into the child-friendly category, not in the least with his provocative nudes and raunchy scenes in his famous painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights."

One of the most prolific and successful children's book authors, Scarry (1919-1994)was the US star of the genre. His children's book series "Busytown," depict animals with human features, such as Huckle cat and Lowly Worm, scurry around in lively city settings. The books sold 100 million copies worldwide and were so successful that Cinar produced an animated series based on them in the 1990s.

The German graphic designer gained fame for her series of wimmelbooks for children which show fantastic worlds in which fish can fly and houses can float. The award-winning author's books has been translated into 15 languages and have sold over 500,000 copies, proving that readers love having a lot to look at.

The first big international wimmelbook success came in the form of a man with a white and red striped shirt and a cap to match. UK author Martin Handford's book series, "Where's Wally" ("Where's Waldo" in North America), led readers everywhere to search for the elusive man hiding amidst large groups — and fans to dress like him. It sometimes took the author two weeks to sketch two intricate pages.