海角大神

It was the answer to an age-old question: Where鈥檚 Waldo?

The elusive brown-haired man in the striped shirt was found hiding in bookstores and local businesses across the US as 鈥淲aldo鈥� publisher Candlewick celebrated the 25th anniversary of the children鈥檚 series by creating "Find Waldo Local." Starting on July 1, residents of participating towns could find Waldo figurines in up to 20 businesses. These included a 40-inch Waldo model and multiple 20-inch versions. Participants received prizes, including a box set of 鈥淲here鈥檚 Waldo?: The Complete Collection.鈥� The driving force behind the campaign? Honor Waldo, but also get customers inside the doors of independent businesses.

The "Find Waldo Local" campaign was inspired by the bookstore Eight Cousins in Falmouth, Mass. The owner of Eight Cousins, Carol Chittenden, went to Candlewick with the idea for a "Where鈥檚 Waldo" scavenger hunt, and the idea was test-driven in Falmouth, where more than 500 children got involved.

In the national "Find Waldo Local" scavenger hunt, more than 5,000 businesses across America participated in 250 cities, and Elise Supovitz, director of field sales at Candlewick, said feedback had been overwhelmingly positive.

鈥淥ver the past week, I鈥檝e received dozens of over-the-moon e-mails from booksellers singing the praises of Find Waldo Local,鈥� she told the American Booksellers Association. 鈥淰irtually every bookseller has asked the same question: 鈥楥an we do it again next year?鈥欌��

Supovitz said they planned to bring back "Find Waldo Local" for the summer of 2013.

Many bookstores and local businesses said they saw an increase in sales for the month, including Vintage Books owner Becky Milner, whose store is located in Vancouver.

鈥淛uly was perfect timing,鈥� Milner told the American Library Association. 鈥淭his was a great project for many families.鈥�