The Traitors: The Official Search & Find is quite the ironic book. We misplaced it in our office, and couldn’t find it for weeks. I finally dedicated time to locate it and viola, the book decided to make it known. This is important for the context of the review because we stopped watching reality television a while ago, and it’s a testament to the fact that I need to straighten up the office.
I am probably in the minority on having never seen The Traitors. It’s a worldwide success with versions in most countries and is probably quite relaxing to watch. The Traitors: The Official Search & Find is a very logical seek-and-find illustrated book extension of the intellectual property. The concept of The Traitors is that the contestants are divided up into Faithfuls and Traitors. They know which camp they’re in and prize money is awarded to the Faithfuls, if they’re able to root out the Traitors by the end of the game. The game has regular eliminations that cull a player or two until a victor is determined.
You probably already knew that and have been able to deduce the traitors from the past three seasons.
The Traitors: The Official Search & Find takes the fun that people have from the television show and puts it into illustrated book form. Whether or not young audiences will entertain the book will depend how if they know the show. It’s not a typical seek-and-find book. Is a city setting filled with over a hundred people readers will need to find the 22 players. The illustrations of the 22 players are show on the far left and right of the pages. This is just a warm up for finding, and eliminating some of the players that readers will discover on the next page.
I tanked the warm-up and am somewhat convinced that the 22 players weren’t on the pages at all. They were probably there. I simply didn’t have the patience to contrast and compare the faces shown in the key, to the detailed and intentionally chaotic illustrations. As each page moves on the number of players dwindles even lower until reaching the final banishment ceremony. By the time The Traitors: The Official Search & Find book reaches its climax there are three traitors who have been tricking the other players all along.
Kids might enjoy looking at the highly detailed illustrations in the book. The Traitors is jam packed with minute observations of background characters doing silly things or having objects that make no sense. There’s a skeleton with a clown nose. The chef is chasing a duck around the kitchen. Why are there two yaks on the train platform?
Kids will enjoy looking at the illustrations, but is that the point of the book? In The Traitors you’re supposed to play a game of Among Us. Kids love playing Among Us. The Traitors can be seen as an adult version of Among Us. However, if a seek-and-find book requires directions, can it really be enjoyed by young audiences? With Waldo, or other commonly known intellectual property, all young audiences have to do is look for the character. This is a book for the superfan.
The Traitors has a “Welcome to” page and a “How to Play” page. Maybe if a family is really into The Traitors, watch every episodes and have been yearning for a way to get their elementary-aged child into the series, then it’s a great fit. In a way, the book reminded me of Have you Seen Axel?, specifically the pages where Axel is hidden so effectively that only his big toe is visable. When you can’t find the mcguffin in a seek-and-find or it requires directions, there might be a problem. If you know The Traitors and have a young child who’s engaged in the series, then it’s a great fit. They’ll likely produce additional books for each country’s series and maybe even themed versions for holiday. When you know, you know and if you like the series, you know. Otherwise, it’s a skinny book that will do nothing but serve as a reminder that you need to straighten up your office.
The Traitors: The Official Search & Find is available on Candlewick Entertainment, an imprint of Candlewick Press.
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