Lost and Found

I read this book to my 6 year old Granddaughter, a kindergartener, and 5 year old Grandson, in Pre school. I got the book because I knew they both could identify with the school setting. They thought the book was great. My grandson was impressed with the size of the lost and found box, and all the unusual items. His smile at the end of the book was priceless. My granddaughter had to look at every picture and identify every object in the box, she was worried for the boy, but loved how it ended. I think this will be one of those books we read again and again.

Kids just loved this book as a read-aloud. The pictures are great and expressive. Another Bill Harley 'must have in your library' book. Even visiting parents say "let me write down that title and author".

Read to my 3rd graders to decide if it is worthy of the Arkansas Diamond Award and the kids all voted that it is!

if you haven't heard bill harley then you missed an important part of childhood!

This is a great book for school kids. Every grade in our building that has read it has enjoyed it!

Adam the illustrator for this book was my art teacher so I bought a copy so he could sign it.

The story is straightforward - Justin has lost the hat his grandmother made for him, can't find it anywhere, and so must visit the custodian, scary grumpy Mr. Rumkowsky, in order to look through the lost and found box. So, how well is the story told and how well is it illustrated? Unusual for this type of book, the strongest suit is the illustrations. I've mostly found that the illustrations for read aloud books or just-before-chapter-books books tend to be frantic or sketchy or too exaggerated or just too comic bookish. Well, not here. Adam Gustavson has done a top notch job. The individual characters are very expressive; you can feel Justin's anxiety and dismay just from the drawings. There is a touch of humor in there, and a bit of playing with perspective in order to heighten the drama, but mostly the illustrations feel real and honest. (Look closely at the cover illustration above. Mr. Rumkowsky is in the lower left; he is perfectly imagined and represented. Justin doesn't have little exclamation points coming off the top of his head or little beads of sweat on his forehead. Rather, he looks like an unhappy and vaguely confused kid. He looks right.) The illustrations nicely complement Bill Harley's text. It too is direct and to the point. The narrative is spare but telling. Justin's conversations with his schoolmates about his fear of Mr. Rumkowsky are short and cryptic, and they read almost like poetry. The prose isn't all pumped up with zaniness or exaggeration, which is so common at this age level. Each word is carefully weighed, and because the tale is so spare in the telling, it ends up having more impact than an overwritten, busy, blabby version would. So, if you'd like a nice read to or read with book, or even a first reader, with wit and style, this book seems worthy of serious consideration. (By the way, it also has an elegant, slightly twisty, and satisfying ending.) Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to the author or the publisher of this book.

Justin has lost his favorite hat! It is blue and white with orange stars all the way around the hat. The main reason it is his favorite hat is because his grandmother made it especially for him. He just has to find his hat. Justin and some of his friends looked all over the playground at school for his hat. A friend told him it might be in the Lost and Found. But everyone was afraid of Mr. Rumkowsky the janitor and he was in charge of the Lost and Found. So instead of going to Lost and Found he searched all over his classroom and still had no luck finding his hat. He was not ready to go to Lost and Found. After several days of looking for the hat his mother reminded him to go to the Lost and Found. OH, NO! That means he would have to face Mr. Rumkowsky. Where could Justin find his hat? Will he face Mr. Rumkowsky at Lost and Found? The author's tale is one many children have to face at one time are another. Like facing a teacher, librarian, principal or maybe even the janitor. He emphasizes on how kids feed on each others fear. When there is usually nothing there to fear but fear itself. The illustrations are right on with the authors story. The characters are realistic as is all the the lost and found depicted in the story. It is a fun tale of many things lost and found. I highly recommend this book. Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Peachtree Publishers for review. I was in no way compensated for this review it is my own opinion.