The Lost Picnic

by B. B. Cronin

Overview

A brilliantly illustrated seek-and-find that dazzles even more than The Lost House, from the award-winning B. B. Cronin!

Grandad is taking his grandchildren on a picnic in his jalopy. They ride on a busy highway full of cars and signs, past charming villages and topiary-filled parks, out into the country. But when they finally arrive at the picnic spot, they discover all their food has tumbled out of the car along the way! It's up to readers to find the missing food so the family can enjoy their meal at last.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101999226
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/19/2017
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 12.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

B. B. Cronin is an award-winning illustrator originally from Dublin, Ireland and the author of The Lost House, which received the Gold Award from the Society of Illustrators. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and on the covers of Penguin Classics, among many other publications. He was honored by a one-person show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin in 1998. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York with the illustrator Juliette Borda and their two children, Henry and Esmé. He divides his time between his kitchen, living room, and his studio.
 
Visit him on Facebook or at BrianCronin.com.

Editorial Reviews

08/21/2017
The bulldogs from The Lost House head out for a picnic in this subtle and elegantly surreal follow-up. Like that book, it’s also a seek-and-find story, but readers unfamiliar with The Lost House may not realize it until the end. Instead, Cronin traces Granddad and his grandchildren’s journey while quietly mentioning the food items that—unbeknownst to the bulldogs—are falling out of the wicker basket strapped to their vehicle. “They stop to take some pictures by a river and think about the three big pretzels they will eat later,” he writes, letting readers know what to look for. Like The Lost House, the book is filled with odd, mesmerizing details and eye-popping colors—even without something to search for, Cronin’s acrylic paintings are worth lingering over. Ages 3–7. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Lost Picnic:

"Mesmerizing details and eye-popping colors."—Publishers Weekly


Raves for The Lost House:

“An eye-popping take on I Spy.”—O, the Oprah Magazine

“This dazzling and delightful ‘seek and find’ book harkens to Maira Kalman’s Max series with its whimsical drawings and unpredictable color combinations. The Lost House could be an adventurous spread from an architecture magazine.”—The New York Times

"Filled with delightful drawings that are visually engaging and inspiring, this bedtime treat...will be a pleasure to read night after night for both kids and adults."—Real Simple 

"[A] stylish puzzler [and] superior seek-and-find for all ages."—The Wall Street Journal

“The Lost House is packed with vivid illustrations and enchanting experience for old and young together.”—Goodhousekeeping.com

“Kids will spend more time giggling over all the quirky stuff Grandpa’s house is filled with in this search-and-find book than looking for the things they’re supposed to spot.”—Redbook 

"Clever, irresistible, [and] visually engaging."—Kirkus Reviews

"Cronin’s silkscreenlike images are elegant as can be, resulting in a rich and suggestive excursion into a quietly unconventional world."—Publishers Weekly

"An artistic and creative seek-and-find book that makes for a fun interactive addition to most collections."—School Library Journal

"A visual marvel...[it recalls] picture-book classics from the early twentieth century, but the neon palette and whimsical humor place it solidly in the modern era."—Booklist 

From the Publisher

08/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—It's easy to get lost in this seek-and-find book, a perfect follow-up to Cronin's The Lost House. This installment follows Grandad and the children as they make their way through a park, towns, and villages, across a river, and by a gas station on their way to a picnic, all while dreaming of the many treats they will enjoy when they get there. Each page offers something new to discover, including many of their picnic basket items that have been left along the way. The bright, saturated illustrations and enchanting spreads completely suck readers in. Cronin's recognizable style is reminiscent of that of classic picture books but has a modern feel and a vibrant neon palette. Like any good seek-and-find book, this one ends with a callout to readers: "Can you go back to the start of their journey and find all the items, so Grandad and the kids can have their picnic?" VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of The Lost House and anyone who loves to seek and find. A wonderful addition to any library, and an irresistible escape for both young and old.—Elizabeth Blake, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-06-14
Granddad and his grandchildren will need plenty of help to recover all the goodies that fall out of their basket on the way to the picnic grounds.As in his Lost House (2016), Cronin relies on an intense, even garish palette to complicate the search for each errant item. The picnickers—floppy-eared, chubby-cheeked anthropomorphic white dogs—tie a big basket to the top of their car. But as they start off, the basket's lid pops open, and upon arrival: "Holy moly! It's empty!" Spread by busy spread, the lost items are keyed by ominous hints in the narrative ("A banana would be a nice treat, but they'd better wait till the picnic") and by significant dominant hues in each broad, bustling landscape through which they pass. Nevertheless, the items that bounce out of the basket are not only tiny, but hidden amid concatenations of architectural and natural features, traffic, piles of bric-a-brac, and other distractions, most colored in searing orange, pinks, yellows, and greens. The author does not provide a locational key, but he does gather images of all the food at the end so that viewers paging back will know what to look for, and he leaves his three picnickers replete and snoozing on the final page. A trippy addition to the search-and-find genre. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews