Walter Wick (born February 23, 1953) is an American artist and photographer best known for the elaborate images in two series of
picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...
activities for young children, ''
I Spy
I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...
'' (1992 to 1999) and ''Can You See What I See?'' (2002 to 2013), both published by
Scholastic.
Early life
Wick was born in
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
and grew up in rural
East Granby, Connecticut
East Granby is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,214 at the 2020 census.
History
Original inhabitants of the current East Granby area were Native American peoples, including the Algonquin/Poquonock, th ...
.
His brother introduced him to photography.
Wick studied
photojournalism at the
Paier College of Art
Paier College (formerly Paier College of Art) is a private for-profit art college in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Previously located in Hamden, Connecticut, Paier is the only independent art college in Connecticut.
History
In 1946, Paier was e ...
.
Career
After graduation, he opened a studio in New York.
He embarked on a career as a commercial photographer and eventually shifted to photo-illustration for books and magazines. He contributed to Scholastic's ''Let's Find Out'' and ''Super Science'' series and photographed hundreds of mass-market magazine covers. He also created photographic puzzles for ''
Games'' magazine.
In 1991, Wick began a collaboration with writer
Jean Marzollo on the enormously successful ''I Spy'' search-and-find picture books. Eight original titles were produced and millions of copies sold. Wick received the
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
-Horn Book first prize for non-fiction for his book ''A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder''. His book ''Walter Wick's Optical Tricks'' was named one of the year's "best illustrated books" by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.
In 2003, Wick and his wife purchased an abandoned 1920 firehouse from the city of Hartford and renovated the building into an art studio.
Wick's collection of work, ''Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos, and Toys in the Attic'', continues to exhibit in museums across the country including the
Vero Beach Museum of Art, the
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located ...
, and
Brigham Young University Museum of Art
The Brigham Young University Museum of Art, located in Provo, Utah, United States is the university's primary art museum and is one of the best attended university-campus art museums in the United States. The museum, which had been discussed for ...
.
Personal life
Wick is married to Linda Cheverton Wick, a former photo prop stylist for magazines and cookbooks.
Selected publications
*''I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles'' (1992)
*''I Spy: Christmas'' (1992)
*''I Spy: Fun House'' (1993)
*''I Spy: Mystery'' (1993)
*''I Spy: Fantasy'' (1994)
*''I Spy: School Days'' (1995)
*''I Spy: Spooky Night'' (1996)
*''A Drop of Water: A Book of Science & Wonder'' (1997)
*''I Spy: Super Challenger!'' (1997)
*''Walter Wick's Optical Tricks'' (1998)
*''I Spy: Gold Challenger!'' (1998)
*''I Spy: Treasure Hunt'' (1999)
*''I Spy: Extreme Challenger!'" (2000)
*''I Spy: Year-Round Challenger!'' (2001)
*''Can You See What I See?: Picture Puzzles to Search and Solve'' (2002)
*''I Spy: Ultimate Challenger!'' (2003)
*''Can You See What I See?: Dream Machine'' (2003)
*''Seymour and the Juice Box Boat'' (2004)
*''Can You See What I See?: Cool Collections'' (2004)
*''Can You See What I See?: The Night Before Christmas'' (2005)
*''Seymour makes New Friends'' (2006)
*''Can You See What I See?: Once Upon A Time'' (2006)
*''Can You See What I See?: On the Road'' (2008)
*''Can You See What I See?: On A Scary Scary Night'' (2008)
*''I Spy: A To Z'' (2009)
*''Can You See What I See?: Treasure Ship'' (2010)
*''I Spy: Spectacular'' (2011)
*''Can You See What I See?: Toyland Express'' (2011)
*''I Spy: Sticker Book and Picture Riddles'' (2012)
*''Can You See What I See?: Out Of This World'' (2013)
*''Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos, and Toys in the Attic'' (2014)
*''Can You See What I See?: Christmas (Board Book)'' (2015)
*''Hey, Seymour!'' (2015)
*''Can You See What I See? Big Book of Search-And-Find Fun'' (2016)
*''A Ray of Light'' (2019)
*''Can You See What I See?: Hidden Wonders'' (2021)
Sources
*"About the author" information, ''I Spy Fun House: A Book of Picture Riddles'' by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo, New York, Scholastic, 1993, p. 37.
*"Artist's Statement" ''Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos, and Toys in the Attic'' by Walter Wick,
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
, 2009.
References
External links
*
Interview by Children's Literature*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wick, Walter
1953 births
Living people
American photographers
American children's writers