Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

Once there was a boy and one day he found a penguin at his door...

So begins Lost and Found: the story of an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a penguin. When the penguin turns up, the young boy assumes he is lost and tries to help the penguin find his home - with surprising and heart warming results.

Lost and Found is quite long for a picture book - I remember when Maximilian first chose it for us to read (when he was around 13 months of age) that I was surprised that he sat through the whole book. The story is told in narrative format with no rhyming text. A young child with a short attention span might not make it through the whole story initially, but there is lots of detail in the illustrations to help sustain their interest.

On the flip side, Lost and Found is definitely a picture book with lasting value - even primary school readers would find much of interest in the illustrations and parents could have some fascinating discussion with their older child about the story elements. It would also be a nice addition to a beginner readers collection - so often early reader books don't really have much of a story so Lost and Found would be a nice story to help children who are learning to read independently.

Maximilian was lucky enough to receive this gorgeous book as a gift from a dear friend. Lost and Found was the first Oliver Jeffers' book to make it into our picture book collection (although I do have a copy of The Heart and the Bottle that is in my own book collection that I bought some years ago - an amazing book about grief. Right up there with A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.)

As I said in my post about Stuck, I love everything Oliver Jeffers creates and he is one of my favourite children's authors. He manages to create stories that are funny, interesting and completely engaging as well as books that are absolutely delightful and beautiful to look at. Jeffers is an amazingly talented artist - most of the artwork in his picture books could easily be framed and hung on the wall, and the illustrations in Lost and Found really are unique and beautiful. Jeffers' website has prints of images from his books for sale - I'm coveting this one of the cover of Lost and Found amongst others!

We have the board book edition of Lost and Found, but it is available in paperback as well. If you are buying this book as a gift, I'd definitely recommend the board book for any child aged 3 and under - it will be much more hard-wearing for those little hands that won't be able to resist turning pages and examining the illustrations. For an older child, the paperback version is a great choice as the illustrations look even better bigger!!

Lost and Found has won multiple awards and has also been made into an award winning short film, which I can't wait to watch! 

I highly recommend this book as an addition to any picture book collection, and it is a real keeper - so perfect as a gift for any child. Best suited for children aged 2 and up.

Two Little Bugs by Mark and Rowan Sommerset

 Two Little Bugs tells the story of friends Little Bug Red and Little Bug Blue.

Little Bug Red lives on top of the leaf while Little Bug Blue lives underneath. Little Bug Blue would like to move to the top of the leaf but lacks the courage and confidence to do so, despite Little Bug Red's offers of help.

Each page follows the dialogue between the two bugs as Little Bug Red munches away at their shared leaf. The pages feature really interesting die cut holes and cutaways to illustrate Little Bug Red's appetite and this makes Two Little Bugs a beautiful and unique book.

The artwork is very unusual and quite lovely. I like the bug illustrations very much and they are very expressive. The use of colour is understated and works well, although probably isn't interesting enough to engage young children.

Two Little Bugs is the first book published by New Zealand husband and wife team Mark and Rowan Sommerset and is dedicated to their son. I was not surprised to read that Two Little Bugs won the Best Children's Book in the 2012 New Zealand Book Design Awards. The judges said "this wonderful book looks as if it was fun to design. In other words... it is a work of wonderful charm and considerable skill" and I really have to agree - it is one of the most unusual and most well-produced children's books I've come across. 

The problem I have with this book is the depressing and defeatist attitude of Little Bug Blue. All he does for the whole book is sit around complaining about poor little him and how hard his life is. It's downright infuriating!! And the ending, where he flies away with Little Bug Red only adds to my frustration because if he could fly the whole time what was he complaining about?!? Aargh!!

Most children's books with morals and values have a good message and I'm just not sure what this one says. I guess as Maximilian gets older we can discuss life choices and how to be positive and make something of yourself.

Putting that aside, this is a lovely little book and Maximilian often chooses it for us to read so it definitely has appeal for him. It will certainly be a book he'll grow into even more as he is older and can enjoy the lovely page cut outs (without fear of ruining it).

If you want to find out more about this great book, you'll find an excellent review of Two Little Bugs by someone who doesn't want to squash Little Bug Blue here on mylittlebookcase.

I like the way this book shows the lifecycle of a caterpillar while telling another story altogether - it is almost a story within a story. Two Little Bugs could be used well in conjunction with other books about caterpillars or bugs for a themed story time or science curriculum.

This really is a beautifully produced book with really interesting and unusual die cut pages - too interesting unfortunately for an 18 month old. We've had many near misses with this lovely little book so I'd recommend it for older picture book readers, ages 3 and up.

Noni the Pony by Alison Lester

Noni the Pony is a sweet and simple story about a pony and her farmyard friends: Dave the dog and Coco the cat.

The story is told in simple rhyming text - "She lives on a farm at Waratah Bay, and likes eating apples and carrots and hay." This makes it a satisfying story to read aloud and the language is very accessible for very young children.

Noni the Pony has very sweet illustrations that are very engaging for even the youngest reader. The colours are really lovely - the cornflower blue sky and green grass capture the colours of outdoor Australia beautifully I think.

There is also lots in the story for young children to relate to, such as the way that Noni gets scared in the dark. There are lots of nice messages about kindness and friendship in the story - with the help of her friends Noni overcomes her fear of the dark and feels much braver.

We borrowed Noni the Pony from the library and it is a book we have both enjoyed very much. With two kids under two, our trips to the library are a bit of a mixed bag at the moment - Maximilian randomly throws things into the book bag and I just grab handfuls of whatever board books are available before leaving in a rush, so what we end up with is a bit of pot luck :) but this story was a real hit from the first time we read it.

Alison Lester has published over 25 picture books for children since 1985, so her books are always a very safe choice!

This board book is a lovely size and shape and perfect for little hands to enjoy. I'd recommend this book for all ages - even the youngest babies will find something to enjoy in this sweet tale.

Ben & Duck by Sara Acton

Ben goes to the park to feed the ducks. One day, there is just one duck - one very large duck, that eats all of Ben's bread before following him up the path, through the gate, into a tree and home. The way the friendship develops between Ben and Duck throughout this book is delightful.


The illustrations throughout Ben & Duck are simply marvellous - gorgeous watercolours with an almost unfinished feel in muted colours that give the characters true warmth and life. It amazes me that such minimal illustrations can still give the characters such expressive faces - Sara Acton is truly talented. Because the illustrations are so muted in colour, they will be especially appreciated by older children and the adult reader - but the images are instantly recognisable for a 15-month old as well.

Ben & Duck was one of Maximilian's first favourite books. "Duck" was one of his first words, so he immediately loved to point to the pictures of duck throughout the story while saying "duck, duck, duck". When Duck comes to Ben's house, there is a picture of the front door with "tap, tap" written on it, and Maximilian also loves to knock on the page of the book while saying "tap, tap". It is really wonderful to see him engage with the story and language in this way, and our favourite picture books are the ones with opportunity for him to become part of the story - not surprising I guess when my favourite books are often ones that I can engage in some way with the story.

This would be a great addition to any storytime session with a duck or friendship theme and there are lots of duck themed crafts freely available. You could also use it as a "food" theme and discuss whether ducks would really eat spaghetti and bread and butter pudding - it would make a great story alongside The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Recommended for readers aged 1-5.

Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby

This is the simple and sweet tale of Squish Rabbit. Squish is just a little rabbit and being little can lead to big problems.

Squish often feels ignored and overlooked. He is lonely and makes a friend, but knows it isn't as good as the real thing. One day, when having a tantrum, Squish meets Squirrel and they become friends.

Although the story is very simple, young children would probably relate to Squish, particularly if they are feeling ignored or misunderstood by the grown ups in their world. Parents could also use Squish's tantrum as a starting point for a great discussion about dealing with big feelings - something that toddlers often struggle with.

The book itself is very well produced - the puffy cover and satin finish give the cover a wonderfully tactile feeling. The illustrations are simple, colourful and effective. The combination of collage and ink drawing is really attractive and the stylised Squish and Squirrel characters are very sweet.

We got Squish Rabbit when Maximilian was around 15 months old and he was just the right age to begin enjoying it straight away. I'd recommend this story for 12 months plus as there isn't enough to engage younger babies effectively, and it isn't available as a board book so younger babies can't engage with the physical book really either.

Katherine Battersby is a local Brisbane author and Squish Rabbit is her first book. Maximilian received Squish Rabbit as a gift from a dear friend and our copy is signed and inscribed by the author. I hope this will just be the first of many autographed books in Maximilian's book collection!