There are simple sentences describing the boys actions, and thoughts. The penguin can not talk, so there is no dialogue. But before the story ends he will find something else that he has lost, and that friendship is the most valuable find of all. The boy is determined to help this sad and lonely visitor and sets off on an epic quest to help the penguin get home. To his surprise, he finds a penguin standing there, and assumes the penguin must be lost. The book begins when the boy answers a knock at the door. The boy is nondescript in a way that I think makes it easy for a child to imagine themselves in his place. I don't always like this in a story, but it works perfectly in this one. The boy also appears in: How to Catch a Star, The Way Back Home and both the boy and the penguin star in 'Up and Down'. The main characters of this book are a boy and a penguin. Another picture shows only a few house with a darkened sky, a full moon and stars. Many depict only the main characters, a single prop on a white background.
The rest of his illustrations are simple and uncluttered as well.
It is not a crude drawing, but a very individualised, artistic expression of Jeffers' style, which is rapidly becoming a personal trademark. The boy is not the most realistic drawing of a child I have seen, but there is something special about it, some unique presence that sets this book apart from other books. The critics seem to have fallen silent on this book though and there is nothing but praise for it.
I have read criticism of some of Jeffers' early works for his style of drawing, especially the thin stick like legs of the The Boy. The story is beautiful in its simplicity, and the illustrations also have a magical quality to them. I can only describe Lost and Found as a work of art. It took me a few weeks to find out the title of the story, but as soon as I discovered the name, I ordered this book. I sat down and joined them watching a beautiful animated film about a Penguin and a boy. One morning I walked into the living room and found my husband and two sons staring silently at the television.
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