The iconic children's book character Waldo from the "Where's Waldo?" series is taking a summer trip around the United States. One of his stops is Fort Smith.
People can search for his red-and-white striped shirt and black-rimmed glasses at 17 local businesses throughout July.
Bookish, in downtown Fort Smith at 70 S. Seventh St., will have Waldo passports available for pickup. Participants have until July 29 to find as many Waldos as possible, and if they visit 10 or more businesses, they'll be entered to win prizes in a drawing July 30.
Participating businesses include Fort Smith Coffee Co., Phat Tire Bike Shop, Olen & Co., Timeless Oddities and Curiosities, Amazing Graze, Gallery on Garrison, Hazel's Haven, Edible Ideaz, Yeager Hardware, Sweetbay, Fort Smith Museum of History, Snoopers Barn, North Shore Hawaiian Ice, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Bliss Cupcakes, the Levitt Amp Music Series and Bookish.
The event is organized by Candlewick Press and the American Booksellers Association, who have teamed with independent bookstores across the country for 10 years to encourage residents to shop at their local businesses and have some hide-and-seek fun.
Martin Handford's collections of crowd scenes took the world by storm in the late 1980s, and since then more than 78 million Waldo books have been sold worldwide, making this event something several generations can enjoy.
Call Bookish at (479) 434-8631 for more information about hunting for Waldo in Fort Smith.
A cardboard Waldo figure is displayed on a shelf as Meagan Matlock (right), owner of Hazel’s Haven, and Tatum Thompson, store manager, work at the store in Fort Smith. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
Isla May, owner of Edible Ideaz, affixes a Where's Waldo? promotional sticker to her store entrance in downtown Fort Smith. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
A cardboard Waldo figure is also hanging out on a shelf at Hazel’s Haven, a boutique women's clothing store, in Fort Smith. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)