Wimmelbilderbuch

A Wimmelbilderbuch (German, literally "teeming picture book"), wimmelbook, or hidden picture book is a type of large-format, wordless picture book. It is characterized by full-spread drawings (sometimes across gatefold pages) depicting scenes richly detailed with humans, animals, and objects. Typically made for children, the drawings are filled with characters and items that may be discovered.

While some wimmelbook spreads depict individual scenes linked by a theme based on time or place (ex: countryside, winter scenery), others are more focused on specific topics, like dinosaurs or medieval history. Other wimmelbooks include microplots, where double-page spreads are connected to each other.

Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder are regarded as the fathers of the format. Contemporary wimmelbook authors include Hans Jürgen Press, Richard Scarry, Jean-Jacques Loup, Ali Mitgutsch, Mitsumasa Anno, Rotraut Susanne Berner, and Eva Scherbarth. In the United Kingdom and the United States, wimmelbooks gained popularity with the success of the Where's Wally? series by the British illustrator Martin Handford.