Wacky Wednesday was published by Random House in 1974 under the pseudonym Theo. LeSieg, with illustrations by George Booth, and is a seek-and-find book in narrative form. A boy wakes up to discover a shoe on his bedroom wall. As his day progresses — school, the street, his house — the number of wrong things multiplies: trees growing underground, cars on rooftops, a beard on his teacher. Each page challenges the reader to count the wacky things (the number increases by one per spread).
The book’s format makes it endlessly re-readable for young children — each rereading reveals details missed before — and its combination of verbal narrative with visual puzzle represents a distinctive approach to the picture book form.
Collecting Wacky Wednesday
First edition (Random House, New York, 1974): Beginner Books format, pictorial boards.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in jacket: $300–$700
- Without jacket: $75–$200
- Later printings: $5–$10
The book’s interactive format and its status as a LeSieg title (less collected than Seuss’s self-illustrated books) make it an affordable entry point for Seuss collectors.