A LOST CAUSE

A piglet who constantly loses his belongings regains them with help from an old friend.

After Pablo misplaces toys, backpacks, hats, and swim trunks, often multiple times, his folks help locate them—frequently with great difficulty. His parents are shown descending under the street, scaling a tree, and entering a fox’s den to retrieve Pablo’s possessions. Busy and distracted, Pablo sometimes finds even longer-lost things while searching for recently misplaced ones. Finally, his exasperated parents declare that Pablo will just have to find his missing items himself. Pablo’s predicament worsens when he can’t locate any of his most treasured possessions for his classroom’s upcoming show-and-tell session. The narrative takes a wonderfully fantastical turn when Rocco, Pablo’s long-forgotten painted rock, offers advice from the piglet’s closet. Rocco explains that many of Pablo’s possessions have relocated to a place where they can “get support and hang out with other lost things.” The duo head to a vacant building in town, where a vast array of objects, including Pablo’s things, socialize with music and conversation. Pablo’s items agree to give the piglet another chance, and they return home to Pablo’s frantic, then rejoicing parents. Youngsters will appreciate a final vignette that shows that adults often lose and find things, too: Mom’s missing teacup’s seen at the lost things club, chatting with Pablo’s left-behind water bottle. Sala’s amusing mixed-media illustrations deftly demonstrate the characters’ activities, emotions, and community-building skills.

Sweet stuff—lost and found.