THE HOUSE OF LOST AND FOUND

The House of Lost and Found by Martin Widmark and Emilia Dziubak is a quiet story about finding love after loss and taking care of ourselves.

Niles is an old man who lives all alone in a big dirty house. Since his wife passed away, Niles keeps to himself as best he can, so when a young boy appears one day and asks Niles to take care of his plant, Niles––too astonished to say no––finds himself saying yes. When it begins to grow, Niles realizes just how lonely he is in his giant house and he begins to clean, caring for the plant and himself as the days go by. When the boy finally does return, Niles discovers that companionship comes in many forms.

The dense, colored pencil illustrations are presented in a storybook manner, with large blocks of text beside page-length images. With full-page spreads interspersed throughout that bleed beyond the borders of the book, it's hard not to feel immediately drawn into this world and enraptured with its atmosphere. The endpapers, which also bleed beyond the book, visually reflect the emotional progression of the book, and I adore the spot gloss on the front, which occurs only in places where Niles' lantern light touches. Such beautiful detailing!

The House of Lost and Found published from Floris Books on September 4, 2018.

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