I recently added 'A Bit Lost' to my picture book collection, and it's one of my very favourite new books. The story is picture book perfection... very simple, but very funny and with gorgeous illustrations. The colours of the book are beautiful, and they're not afraid of using dark colours (which I like.) The whole design of the book is sophisticated and very pleasing to look at.
The characters are very appealing and bursting with expression, in spite of their simplicity.
There's a wonderful use of empty space on the pages, which give the illustrations room to breathe and helps to emphasise the smallness of the little lost owl. The compositions are flawless, and there's one half-page variation in page size at the beginning of the story which adds drama to the owl's fall from his nest.
This is my favourite page, where the little owl has told the squirrel that his mummy is 'very big', and the squirrel thinks he knows exactly which creature is being described...
The book is an excellent lesson in how to tell a story with simplicity and style.
You can buy it here:
Chris Haughton's website is here:
Thanks for posting about this little treasure... will definitely have to look it up.
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