“Lost and Found” Children’s Book Review & Author Interview

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lost and Found by Natalie Shampanier, David Pavon
on December 25, 2022
Genres: Children's
Pages: 32
Format: eARC
Source: Provided by author for honest review
Goodreads

Forgotten toys at a summer camp ground
Are tossed into the camp’s Lost and Found.
But Dino Boy refuses to spend his days on a shelf
He sets out to escape and find a home for himself.
A ballerina, a hippo, and a mood ring tag along
On this great adventure to find where they belong.

Award-winning screenwriter and family therapist Natalie Shampanier draws from her experience with adopted children to create a poignant rhyming tale about determination, friendship and the search for love. This beautifully illustrated book is a perfect read-aloud for early readers and shared family story time!

Julie’s Review:

 

Lost and Found was such as sweet read. I read it with my 8 year old son and he loved it. He absolutely loved the rhymes the most, being more and more intrigued as the rhyming continued.

I agree, it is beautifully written and the words are lyrical ad lovely. As are the illustrations, lovely. The characters, each with their own quirks and talents, poor left behind and forgotten toys. They go on an adventure to try to get out of the lost and found, and find themselves along the way.

I loved how the toys found new friends that they fit with perfectly, making both the human kids and the toys happier than ever before.

I also kinda enjoyed the meta of the kids reading this very book.

This book makes a great read aloud for kids at home and can be a great classroom read as well.

Author Interview

What’s your book about, and what inspired you to write it?

“Lost and Found” tells the story of forgotten toys in a summer camp’s lost and found, who set out on a journey to find a new home. It is about overcoming challenges and was inspired by my experience working as a family therapist, counseling adopted and foster children, and by my desire to instill hope in children undergoing adoption journeys.

 

Who is your target audience, and why do you think this book will appeal to them?

I hope that all children will connect to it and specifically children ages 4-10 as well as those undergoing adoption journeys. This book is ultimately about finding the perfect place where you belong with people who love you, even if it isn’t the first place you started.

 

What message do you wish to pass across to your readers with this book?

Many children yearn to find their place in the world – whether it’s in school, camp, extracurricular activities, or with their friends. At the end of the day they just want to feel like they belong. Whether they have been adopted, in foster care or just want to be recognized, I hope that the characters overcoming challenges in this book will help young children find their way, and feel accepted and loved no matter what. I also hope that it can spark conversations about adoption, belonging, coping skills, and teamwork.

 

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

I would have to say fitting all of my ideas into 32 pages was a challenge. I’m used to writing screenplays where we really get to explore characters, their arcs, and challenges, etc. A children’s book is much more simplified and condensed so I had to cut out a few themes I had originally planned to include.

 

As a writer, is there anything you’ve learned about yourself while writing this book?

When you hit a certain groove with a story, it almost starts to write itself. Certain ideas end up naturally working their way into the story and other ones which may have worked well in my head, didn’t translate as well on paper once the story started taking a form of its own.

 

What is your niche genre, and if you were to write in a different genre, what would it be?

I come from the world of film and writing screenplays. Most of my screenplays end up having a psychological factor to them. They’re also bitter sweet, much like life. My last film, “Paper Spiders” was about mental illness (delusional disorder), “Beautiful and Twisted” was a true crime story, The Millionaire Tour dealt with psychological mind games and I put an emphasis on ‘feelings’ in “Lost and Found” with Hamburger Hippo overeating when sad, Moody changing colors based on her mood etc.

 

What books and authors have most influenced you?

I love rhyming and humor books, but also books with a heart or those that have lessons like Aesop’s Fables. Of course classics like Corduroy, Where the Wild Things Are and The Giving Tree.

 

Do you have any more books in the works?

In between wiring screenplays, I plan to turn Lost and Found into a series, so… stay tuned! 🙂

 

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

If someone took the time to write, I always read it. The good ones are empowering of course. I try to learn from the bad ones, but fortunately they’ve been pretty positive up until now.

 

How can readers get in touch with or follow you (website, personal blog, social media handle, Goodreads)?

I would love for readers to add or follow me on any of the social media sites:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR2SMH91

https://www.instagram.com/lost_and_found_book/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75506008-lost-and-found

https://www.facebook.com/lostandfoundchildrensbook/

https://twitter.com/LOSTandFOUND_3

 

Any advice to new/aspiring authors?

If you believe in yourself, others will follow. For some writers it is hard to begin a project but for most, it is harder to finish it. It’s so important to get through a first draft and give yourself the permission for it to not be great at first. Leonard Bernstein said “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” So please to suspend the critic while writing the first draft. It is truly liberating.

 

 

About the Author

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