Thelwell by the river
A little Thelwell puzzle with only 400 pieces has been a refreshing change for us from those intimidating 1000-piece jigsaw leviathans we usually tackle. It’s about 34-years-old, but although some of the pieces have faded a bit, the picture itself — a scene of children playing in and around a river — has lost none of its charm. Who cares if it doesn’t have any of Thelwell’s horses in it — there’s enough action in the picture already. One group of kids has caught a huge fish and are heaving on their lines as they try to bring it in to land; the look of alarm on their pet dog’s face is priceless. Another youngster is having just as much trouble trying to catch a minnow. And one unfortunate angler has caught a crayfish. Not surprisingly, he jumps back as the crazy crustacean snaps at him.
Other children in the picture are either splashing about, diving off the bridge, or catching frogs in jam jars. Here’s a good tip, though: do the old Spot the Ball trick and try to work out which direction all these kids are looking. That’s right: none of them are looking at us, the viewer. They’re all too busy doing their own thing. But there is one pair of eyes trained upon us, connecting directly with us; one big beefy brain that’s working overtime trying to work out not where everyone’s looking, but who to chase first. He’s just over the fence. Have you spotted him yet? I won’t give it away if you haven’t. But when you do, here’s a bit of advice:
Run!!!
[More Thelwell jigsaw puzzle pictures at our jigsaw puzzle page.]