A Lost Cause

Pablo the pig, a “scatterbrain” in his mother’s words, manages to lose all manner of objects: a new backpack (at the bus stop), the shoes off his feet (location unknown), and perennially left-behind stuffie Mr. Crunch (once on an airplane headed for Singapore). Tired of going above and beyond to retrieve Pablo’s belongings, Mom and Dad lay down the law: “You will have to look for things all by yourself.” But this tough love doesn’t register with the distractible Pablo until his room’s chaotic clutter stands between him and a fitting show-and-tell item. The story takes a leap into animism when Rocco, a rock with a painted-on smile from Pablo’s kindergarten days, guides the pig through the animal-populated city and to a meeting of the Committee for Lost and Forgotten Things, where Pablo’s many lost objects await with others. Sala (If You Run Out of Words), working in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil, matches knowing, always empathic text with vivid settings that help anchor both Pablo and readers in this object lesson, which reinforces that caring for beloved belongings (and beings) demonstrates how deeply they are valued. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)