Be honest, how many parents out there have back ups of your child’s favourite toy? You know, the one they absolutely need to fall asleep and life would be over if they didn’t have it to go to bed. Children so often lose things but what happens if there is no back up, when something is lost on a trip to the park or the walk to school. What happens to all the lost things out there? Carey Sookocheff explores these musings in her beautiful new picture book appropriately titled Lost Things.

In this short on text but long on illustration story, readers get to explore what happens to lost things, where they go and where they eventually end up. What happens when they are found by animals or other people and how their uses can change depending on who or what finds them.

Lost Things is a bit of a seek and find story. On each page there is something that is lost and readers will need to be on the lookout for the lost item to see where it ends up. 

Told in 58 words, yes I counted them, it’s an ideal story to share with your youngest readers. Perfect from birth to kindergarten (and I would argue even older) it’s a story that can be shared when a precious item is lost. Parents can imagine with the child all of the places their lost thing has gone and how that lost thing has helped different creatures and people in the neighbourhood. Lost Things can ease the sadness of missing something precious by giving it a fun new story and the child a way to think about their item in a new way.

Carey Sookocheff’s illustrations are beautiful in their simplicity. Just as the story is one of a few words, the illustrations express so much without being overly busy and complicated. There are lovely little moments, especially in the backgrounds, that readers can look out for to make the reading experience even richer. We find her illustrations to be incredibly soothing and relaxing with a simple colour palette and so much story.

Lost Things is a book that can easily be shared with a large group of readers or as an intimate cuddle up.