The Lost Book by Margarita Surnaite

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Lost Book by Margarita Surnaite Natalie Berglind Surnaite, Margarita The Lost Book; written and illus. by Margarita Surnaite. McElderry, 2019 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-3818-7 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-3819-4 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad 5-8 yrs When Henry the rabbit discovers a book that doesn’t belong in Rabbit Town, he crawls through a hedge to find its owner in a different world—a human city plastered with advertisements for laptops, phones, and tablets. The “creatures” of this city are so busy looking at their screens that they ignore Henry until a little girl finally befriends him. Henry gives her the Lost Book as they part ways; at bedtime, Henry recounts his adventure to his siblings, and the girl shares the Lost Book—a book about Henry’s voyage into the city—with her friends. Unfortunately, what could be a sweet story about an unlikely pair of friends is overpowered by a heavy-handed diatribe against a technologically advanced society, and the images of crowds of adults ignoring a lost rabbit-child as they stare at their phones and dragging their children away from nature are overblown to the point of unintended comedy. Surnaite’s gorgeous, digitally rendered, chalk-like art gives a soft edge to the story that somewhat compensates for the story’s flaws. Neat panels with negative space deftly induce a montage effect as Henry goes through the hedge to his version of Wonderland, if Wonderland were a dystopian city where all the adults ignore everything to get sucked into tablet screens. Ultimately, the story’s reductive take both didactically hammers its moral home and ignores technology’s positive uses; those looking for a better-executed version of the concept that grownups don’t always have time for their children should reach for Portis’ Wait (BCCB 10/15), but this may provoke some discussion. [End Page 224] Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois