Hello, friends! Our book today is Lost and Found by Kate Banks and Galia Bernstein, a lovely forest fairytale of discovery and love.

One day, as wood mouse and rabbit are playing in the woods, they come upon an unusual object: a rag doll. They marvel over the unknown thing as more of their woodland pals approach and offer their own impressions. While the friends are all familiar with the sights, sounds, and scents of their forest home, everything about the rag doll is curious and new. Determined to discover the doll’s origin, they follow the small footprints out of the trees and on an adventure of exploration and emotion.

Warm and sweet. After crossing an unfamiliar stretch of gray (a road) and finding a very unique-looking den (a house), the animals complete their quest to return the doll to its home fairly quickly. This leads to a final “twist” in the story – one that emphasizes the idea that while details and environments may be unfamiliar, the feeling of love and care is universal – all the more unexpected and satisfying. Banks’s text is lovely to read aloud, managing to bring a lot of character to the collection of forest friends, something expanded on even further with Bernstein’s gorgeous illustrations. Each animal character feels fully-fleshed out and immensely endearing, adding to the emotional punch of the penultimate page. The length is great for a storytime, and JJ really enjoyed this sweet and simple tale of love. A lovely story and well worth the read – Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)