Dive in for a fantastic underwater adventure!
Inspired by Jules Verne's 19th century classic science fiction novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, this puzzle book is a treat for readers of all ages.
Polish artist Aleksandra Artymowska's reimagining of the story is simply bursting with wild creatures, strange landscapes and mechanical contraptions... and it will take readers on a journey to some truly exciting places.
After an irresistible invite from Captain Nemo himself to search the seven seas, readers set sail through this super-sized adventure book which is written with an engaging narrative feel and contains hidden symbols and keys to uncover in a series of challenges on every spread.
This stunning puzzle book will both fascinate and amaze young readers as they travel deep beneath the waves on an incredible journey full of winding mazes, perplexing puzzles and hidden treasure just waiting to be found.
Find a sea snake hiding in the seaweed, look for fragments of ancient pottery lying amongst underwater volcanoes, spot the hammerhead sharks and steer the submarine Nautilus through a reef without passing any peckish piranhas! But will they ever find Captain Nemo's elusive gold?
Artymowska's spectacular illustrations are filled with vibrant colours and intricate detail, with each spread offering exciting challenges and searches perfect for adventurous youngsters... and adults who love a challenge.
The perfect splash-and-grab gift for your own undersea adventurers!
Our second Picture Book of the Week is a truly stunning homage to an absolutely amazing novel...
It's not often we see classic novels getting a picture puzzle book treatment but 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A Puzzle Adventure by Aleksandra Artymowska is a real spectacle, and one of the most amazing maze books we've seen in a long time.
It takes its inspiration from Jules Verne's classic novel, and along with two intrepid little explorers you'll enter Captain Nemo's undersea world for a peerless puzzle adventure with a ton of style and the most incredible illustrations.
Each page spread is hyper-detailed, and takes its cues from the original story of Captain Nemo and his quest to rid the world's oceans of those who would plunder them for their own gain.
Thankfully this book doesn't take too serious a tone, but you will need all your skill to solve some of the mazes on offer in here.
There are moments of excitement as your amazing undersea craft is attacked by a giant squid! Eeeep! Can you escape in time?
Each amazing scene is fiendishly devised, and truly gorgeously illustrated. This is one heck of a beautiful book, just look!
It's an awesome idea, and Aleksandra is an incredible talent who deserves every success with this. She's definitely someone to keep a close eye on in future, her work is amazing!
C's best maze: The shell maze.
Daddy's favourite maze: I love all the crazy internal stuff on Nemo's submarine, The Nautilus. Such a great idea for a book, would love to see more classics get this treatment!
An underwater adventure like no
other! Discover the hidden symbols
and keys in each scene that relate to
a series of challenges guaranteed to
fascinate and amaze. A substantial puzzle book
with intricate and complex puzzles
on each page.
Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has challenged readers to set sail in search of adventure and priceless treasure - and to do so, readers must follow ladders, waterways, gaps and spaces in shipwrecks, coral reefs and all manner of under-sea settings. The aim is to find seven keys that are hidden throughout the book: only those seven keys will open Nemo's secret sea chest.
Though this book is predominantly a mix of search-and-find and maze activities, the combination of Artymowska's amazing illustration and the factual questions that accompany the puzzles - finding the hammerhead sharks among a variety of other sharks, puzzles centred on detailed cross-sections of submarines - make it feel like non-fiction.
There is also a narrative within the book that takes inspiration from Jules Verne's original story, with escapes from giant squids, reproductions of the Nautilus, ancient ruins under the sea and many more of the story's iconic imagery. The puzzles are reasonably advanced, so would suit children in the mid- to upper-primary age.
The illustration is utterly fantastic, and anyone who loved Artymowska's previous masterpiece, Around the World in 80 Days, will be enthralled with this illustrative homage to a science fiction adventure classic.