Colette's Lost Pet

PreS-Gr 2—Colette has just moved, and, worse, she has been told emphatically that she can't have a pet. When she unexpectedly meets two boys from her new neighborhood and is unsure what to say to them, she invents a story, shyly telling them that she is searching for her lost parakeet. The boys suggest borrowing Lily's binoculars; Lily, in turn, leads the kids to Scott's bird feeder; Scott directs the group to a fountain in Maya's yard; Maya has just spotted Beth's cat nearby; and Beth enlists the help of Lukas to make posters of the parakeet. With each stop through the neighborhood, Colette contrives new details about her missing bird, which build to an over-the-top account of their worldwide adventures together. Rather than calling her out on her obviously made-up tale, however, the kids play along, peppering Colette with questions, and in the end, they invite her to come back the next day and tell some more stories. The neighborhood kids are kind and willing to come to Colette's aid, but it doesn't quite make sense that they would all be charmed rather than annoyed at being duped. Arsenault uses sequential panels to tell the story, and the entire narrative is related in speech balloons. Rendered in pencil, watercolor, and ink, the soft, sometimes smudgy illustrations are rich with texture and evoke a gentle, retro feel. While the art is largely composed in black, white, and gray, Colette stands out in her yellow-hooded coat, and splashes of yellow and pale blue, added digitally, are used to highlight the children's imaginative play.