The Lost Book

PreS-Gr 1—This lovely book embeds a message about the importance of reading and the issue of overuse of technology in an appealing fantasy adventure. Henry, an anthropomorphized rabbit in a hoodie, lives in Rabbit Town, where everyone else loves to read. He prefers having adventures. One day he discovers a "lost book" and ventures into the human world searching for its owner. However, everyone there is too engaged with their phones to notice him. Finally, a little girl sees and befriends him, and he gives her the book. Returning home, he tells the story of his adventure, while the girl shares the book depicting his story. The clever text is concise and well written, and leaves room for the illustrations to extend the narrative. Rabbit Town is depicted in lush, verdant greens, with rolling hills, while the human world is a drab, gray, angular cityscape. Henry's appealingly pigtailed friend is a spot of color in a bright red jacket and yellow scarf, which she gives to Henry. The illustrations are a mix of full-bleed spreads, single pages, and cartoon-inspired boxes that provide effective visual storytelling. This layout encourages page-turns and keeps the action moving. With just a few brief lines, Surnaite's expressive characters go from curious, to dejected, to happy.