The Puzzle Book: The 1982 Childcraft Annual- USED COLLECTIBLE, GOOD

Publication Details: Published in 1982 by World Book, Inc. (Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago, Illinois) as a special annual supplement to Childcraft: The How and Why Library. Features illustrated wipe-clean/pictorial boards with games, mazes, and brain teasers organized across 300+ pages.

About the Book: Starting in 1965, World Book issued one standalone, themed hardcover "Annual" each year exclusively for families who owned the multi-volume Childcraft set. The 1982 edition focused entirely on recreational mathematics, visual discrimination, word games, tangrams, and lateral thinking riddles.

Interesting Fact: Rather than being sold through traditional bookstores, Childcraft Annuals were primarily distributed through direct-mail subscription programs to existing encyclopedic set subscribers. Because it was an interactive activity book packed with mazes, hidden pictures, and arithmetic puzzles, surviving copies are notoriously hard to find unmarked—most were heavily solved in pencil, pen, or crayon by kids in the 1980s.