Title: Lost and Found
Author/Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Age Group: 1-5
Synopsis: A little boy discovers a lost penguin and is determined to help him find his way home but there are more ways to be lost than just geographically.
The Low Down:
We love what have now been christened “the little boy stories.” Between Lost and Found and How to Catch a Star, we’re hooked. Bug loves them both and I love reading them to him. Lost and Found has all of the charm and wit of How to Catch a Star but with more of an epic adventure in the plot line. Jeffers delivers a valuable lesson about friendship and assumptions with this cleverly worded gift, that packs just the right amount of barbs about seagulls.What’s not to love?
The story follows a young boy who randomly finds a penguin on his front doorstep. He’s not sure what the penguin needs or wants but is determined to help him. Through trial and error and due in a large part to the inherent tenacity that the boy seems to possess, the boy finds where the penguin’s home is, builds a boat, and rows him there. It’s only after the boy is returning home that he realizes that the penguin was searching for something and it wasn’t his home but a friend. The boy immediately turns around by the penguin is gone. Sadly the boy starts home again, only to discover that the penguin set out after him. Together the friends return home. 
The illustrations vary from fresh innocent to striking and dramatic, chronicling the change in the relationship and the lengths that these friends will go for each other. The book begins with bright greens and blues, made all the more vibrant with the black and white penguin looking perfectly dour in each scene. You can almost see him numbly following the boy around in hopes of finding a friend. His loneliness oozes off the page when contrasted with the boys’ shining innocent enthusiasm. It’s not until the end of the book though, that your realize that it’s loneliness and not homesickness. As the boy and the penguin begin their journey to the South Pole, they build a boat. Bug loved this and found his toy hammer so he could help. A long conversation followed about “pretending.” The pages when they are on the journey, convey just how small and momentous this task actually is with the boat, boy, and penguin taking up such a small portion of the page. The thought that went into each page is so apparent, as is the effortless sense of humor that Oliver Jeffers’ books tend to exude. We come back to Lost and Found again and again, probably because in reading it we find what all readers are looking for: a friend in book form.
Story Tips:
- Engage with the story. Pretend to hammer or row to the South Pole. This is also an excellent opportunity to learn more about penguins.
I need more!
Check out my review on How to Catch a Star for more info on Oliver Jeffers. His most recent collaboration A Child of Books
Add to my library:
UK Amazon:Lost and Found
US Amazon: Lost and Found
