I’ve talked briefly about The Lost Property Office by Emily Rand before, but we’ve revisited it this week as I popped it in Peapod’s downstairs book basket near the trains he’s been playing with and he’s really taken to it.
As luck would have it, I’d also just bought another Emily Rand book – All Sorts (this time illustrated by her and written by Pippa Goodhart) – after Mathew Tobin posted about it on Twitter, and he’s really enjoying that too.
So, it’s an Emily Rand double today.
The Lost Property Office is a lovely story which sees a little girl leaving her teddy on the train, and I’ll be honest we don’t always get much further than this page when reading it!
Peapod is fascinated by this part of the story, pointing out the teddy on the train and saying they’ve left him, then “Choo-Choo! Gone!”
Please excuse my morning hair!!
When we do manage to read on, we see the little girl staying at her Grandpa’s overnight (with a teddy who’s just not the same) and dreaming of finding her Teddy – along with lots of other long lost belongings.
This is a simply wonderful spread and I challenge anyone not to start hunting for the objects listed in the glorious jumble Emily has created!
And it’s these pages and those at the Lost Property Office I love best about the book.
There’s so many different things to spot, find, talk about and notice – it’ll never get boring! Collections of things the same but not quite, oddities and the everyday all jumbled in together and several “how could anyone lose that?!”s!
One of those books you’ll see something new in every time.
And the same can be said of All Sorts, perhaps even more so.
Frankie likes to sort things. She sorts all sorts of things in fact. But when it comes to people, things get trickier and she starts to realise that sometimes things are best all mixed up.
With minimal text, a lovely message and an upbeat vibe, this is a lovely book to share and Emily Rand’s gorgeous illustrations really sing.
There is something ever so satisfying and aesthetically pleasing about the sorted objects, and yet the unsorted assortments are just as appealing!
And, as with The Lost Property Office, I really love her portrayals of everyday life and people. They always seem so real and I love that they have a distinctly urban feel too.
Two truly brilliant books. Perfect for poring over and super for sharing! Bring on more Emily Rand!
Bellis Does Books 
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