Charm of memories – reviews of a book from the series “Guess who is it?”

Guess who? is a guessing game known to me from my childhood, which I loved to play. Can the books that draw the idea and mechanics from this ancient title also appeal to children?

In the 1990s, board games were not as widespread as they are today. Compared to  Monopoly ,  Chinaman  and  Mushroom Picker , the colorful and smiling faces of the  Guess Who?  they were much more interesting to me. This game, released in 1979 (in Poland, 1996), is about a duel, during which two people take turns asking themselves questions about the appearance of the drawn character. Does she have brown hair? Does he wear a hat? Or is she black? And is it a woman or a man at all?

While the game may seem repetitive, it’s perfect for younger players. It teaches perceptiveness, deduction and evaluation. Better to hit the traits that a large part of the characters have and gradually eliminate them, or maybe find rare attributes and hope for luck that we get rid of a large group of suspects? Such dilemmas for kids are just right and will prepare them to further explore the world of board games. Several versions of this title have been created, so you can find the one that will suit our tastes best.

Harper Collins publishing house under the HarperKids banner publishes offers for younger audiences. Thanks to it, I was able to go back to my childhood and see what came out of the combination of a book and a game. Each of the four proposals is colorful and nicely presented. They all have about 60 pages, with a lot of illustrations and a story in large typefaces. Details that the reader should pay attention to are in bold, which will help the youngest remember them.

In all books, the task is the same. We have to eliminate people one by one with the help of the information we gather, in order to indicate the only one at the end. It is not difficult, but you have to read carefully and look at both the objects and the faces of the characters.
I had the pleasure of reading four stories, and each of them takes the reader to a different place.

Investigation in New York

Tomek, together with other students, is flying to New York for an exchange. At the airport, he meets Anna, with whom he previously exchanged letters. The girl writes articles for the school newspaper and keeps on looking for new topics with her camera. Suddenly, someone steals money from the booth’s cash register, and as it turns out, this is just the beginning of trouble.

In this part, I liked the educational side of the story, namely the English words interjected by Anna. If they are incomprehensible, it will certainly encourage you to check their meaning. On the other hand, the differences in the way of saying hello or counting the floors in the building will provoke a conversation about cultural differences.

Child of the Sun 

Lena and Kacper join their dad, who is an archaeologist. While visiting the site, they learn about the prophecy about the Child of the Sun. History fascinates them so much that they decide to find a person who could be the main character of the prophecy. Is it possible that one of the researchers is the solution to the puzzle?

This book takes us to Mexico and the Mayan Temple. The ancient civilization still awakens people’s imaginations. No wonder the children also became interested in her. From this story we can get a lot of information about the Mayan religion and culture, which definitely hit my tastes. Exotic atmosphere and long journeys are a great starting point for a conversation about extinct peoples, cults and history. Certainly, this part will be a lot of fun for little explorers.

Panic in an amusement park 

Asia and Aleks visit an amusement park with their parents. The main goal of the children is one of the many attractions – Shooting Star. However, before they manage to get into the car, the line breaks down. The overheard conversation shows that it was not a coincidence, but that someone had damaged it on purpose.

The little heroes decide to find the culprit among the employees present nearby. It took the most perceptiveness when visiting the funfair, although the story itself was the least exciting.

Mysterious disappearance 

Julka and Olek visit the museum near Loch Ness. It turns out that a moment ago someone took the only exhibit that testified to the existence of the lake monster – a paw print. The children decide to conduct their own investigation before the police arrive.

This booklet takes us to Scotland and the most famous beast that still has legends. The young reader will definitely be interested in the stories and guesses about this creature. It will also have the largest number of suspects, because in the museum – apart from parents and children – there were as many as twenty-four people, including employees and visitors. It’s a lot, but little detectives can handle even such a large group.

A journey back to childhood

Nicely issued books leave no doubt that they were created with younger readers / players in mind. We will find more stories than puzzles in them, but the spirit of the cult game is very well depicted. By way of elimination, we come to one character that should have been identified. Even if we make a mistake, in the end, the main characters explain all the clues they found and the people they crossed off the list of suspects thanks to them.

In every part, the little detectives are playing  Guess Who?  This is a great reference to the prototype, the more so as kids notice the similarity between the suspects from the game and the adults around them. A very nice nod to the original title and its fans.

The advantage of playing over books is replayability. After reading the whole story, we will not come back to it too soon, because we will remember the solution. Perhaps only after some time we could try again. Therefore, I would treat the four stories as reading with game elements, because the plot itself is so interesting that it will draw children in and they will gladly return to it. Big letters and simple language will allow younger readers to play alone or with a little help from their parents.

Guess Who’s Book Series  ? suitable for primary school students. Preschool toddlers can also try, but rather in the company of their older siblings, mom or dad. If paragraph comics are too difficult or the constant browsing of pages is too irritating, these books will be a good replacement, which can additionally inspire you to explore the places and legends described further.

I enjoyed the trips to New York and the Mayan Temple the most, but I think all the stories are worth reading. Each of them costs only a dozen or so zlotys, so they will work both as a gift and as a permanent item, e.g. in the school library.