Up Against the Waldo

The Ultimate Fun Book! was influenced by fan mail from the United States. Kids often send Handford photos of themselves dressed as Waldo or their own drawings of the antihero, so he devised ''more of a multimedia affair,'' with pages to color in, stickers, a board game, and ''cardboard figures that you can press out and make a 3-D circus. That's the sort of thing I used to love as a kid.''

Handford has no children of his own to use as sounding boards — the new book is dedicated to his girlfriend of the last nine years — but he says he still thinks like a kid anyway: ''I don't need to refer to any other kids. I've got more than enough ideas of my own.'' In fact, Handford's life has hardly changed at all since he and Waldo found fame. ''Some journalists have tried to paint me as this owl, this nocturnal creature that doesn't like coming out in the daylight,'' he says. ''It's true, I don't normally rise until after midday, but that's not uncommon amongst commercial artists. It worried me that I was being described as reclusive, because I'm not; I've got very good friends.''

Nor does he plan to upgrade his lifestyle anytime soon. ''I'm pretty easily pleased, actually, which worries me sometimes.'' He doesn't enjoy travel, has no desire for a bigger house, and spends most of his money on art supplies, illustrated books, old comics, and still more toy soldiers.

But there is one thing he longs for: ''My only regret in life is I would love to have been in a pop group. Seriously.'' In fact, he was in a punk band at art college, but he's too mortified to mention the name. ''We were quite obnoxious,'' he says, blushing. ''The thing was, every time we played, my role in the group diminished. The first concert, I was the lead singer. The second, I played bass. The third concert, we got a female lead singer in, and I was the backup singer to her. And at our last concert, I was the dancer — I wasn't allowed to do anything musically.''

He may not be Barry Gibb, but surely the author's parents are proud? ''They're pleased for me, obviously,'' he says, ''but it's had no effect at all, really. My mother's still waiting for me to get a proper job.''