Book Description
for Don't Get Lost! by Pat Hutchins
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A piglet, lamb, calf, and foal set out for a walk across the farm fields after their mothers warn them to not get lost and to be back in time for dinner. As they frolic through the fields, the quartet sees some of their favorite foods: ripe apples, sweet hay, and juicy turnips. When they head home for dinner, the group looks forward to sampling some of the temptations they’d noticed on the way out. But to their surprise, the apples, hay, and turnips are gone from the fields. How could it be? Despite their mothers’ warnings, they must have gotten lost! However, observant readers will realize that the crops have been harvested during the youngsters’ outing, as evidenced by the tractor, ladders, and hay bailers within the illustrations. Despite their fears, the young animals arrive back in the barnyard to discover waiting a dinner of the very apples, hay, and turnips seen during their walk. A bright palette and patterned animals with toylike construction create a visually appealing story for young children, who will relish their inside knowledge on the whereabouts of the missing food. (Ages 3–6)
CCBC Choices 2005 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2005. Used with permission.