Finding Things

by Kevin Henkes, Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)

Overview

From bestselling and award-winning husband-and-wife team Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek, Finding Things is a child-centered, cozy, and conceptually rich picture book that explores storytelling, connections, luck, nature, and responsibility. For readers of Antoinette Portis, Marla Frazee, and Laura Vaccaro Seeger.

If you were on a walk and found a ball, you could take it home and play with it. You are likely to find many other wonderful things as you explore the world—maybe even a new friend—and that makes you very lucky.

Award-winning creators Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek’s collaborations are always exceptional; full of vivid and deceptively simple observations of the world around us. Finding Things features a succinct text and exquisite, emotionally rich illustrations, and it encourages readers to be creative and to find purpose and connections in what surrounds them. A terrific read-aloud to treasure and share, as well as a great title for visual literacy and emerging readers, Finding Things is also a wonderful choice for social and emotional learning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063245662
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/14/2024
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	190,857
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Laura Dronzek is a painter whose work has been exhibited nationally. Her picture books include Moonlight, by Helen V. Griffith; It Is Night, by Phyllis Rowand; White Is for Blueberry, by George Shannon; Little Houses, by Kevin Henkes; and a quartet of seasonal picture books also by Kevin Henkes. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Hometown:

Madison, Wisconsin

Date of Birth:

November 27, 1960

Place of Birth:

Racine, Wisconsin

Education:

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Website:

http://www.kevinhenkes.com

Editorial Reviews

When a seemingly throwaway piece of text, like an object that is lost, sticks around long enough to turn into a story, that’s a picture book. When the illustrations elevate the words the way these do, that’s a masterpiece. A manual for constructing a contented life, this book makes children look deeper and behave with deliberation.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“In a straightforward narrative that speaks directly to children, Henkes reflects on the treasures that are hidden in plain sight, just waiting for someone to see their potential. . . . The text is utterly true to a kid’s world in acknowledging limits. . . . This well-crafted picture book is simple, intriguing, and well attuned to its audience.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Serendipitously encountered objects present themselves as truly valuable in this compact, thoughtful story about paradise found.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An ode to noticing the little things. . . . Using no more words than you might find in a beginning reader, Henkes once again demonstrates his mastery for boiling a story down to its most essential parts. . . all painted with bright acrylic colors that pop off the page. Each element is as accessible as it is ripe for speculation. Found objects sometimes yield the simplest pleasures. Consider this book one such example.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The story taps into the inherent caretaking tendencies of many young children. . . . Perfect for emerging readers. . . . Tableaux, dominated by simple square shapes, are reduced to their essentials: ball, flower, box, kitten—all “happy” in a warm home because the child took the time to notice them.” — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2024

PreS-Gr 2—In a carefully worded script that reads like a sunny morning on slow, Henkes tells what happens when you come across a ball, a flower in the sidewalk, a discarded box, and a kitten. The second-person narration tells you, readers, how to ensure that these objects, having been lost or put aside, can be yours; for example, if you leave the ball where it is for a few days or you ask for a lot of different sorts of permission before taking home the kitten, you may be in the clear. Random choices, these? No, this is a story of simplicity, and what has been found is actually a kitten with a box to sleep in, a ball for it to play with, a flower for it to look at, and a child's arms to hold it. Dronzek's deeply hued, pastel-like illustrations, each a tiny painting that seems to hold its breath in anticipation, culminate steadily till readers find themselves at home with the kitten, perhaps as they always knew they'd be. When a seemingly throwaway piece of text, like an object that is lost, sticks around long enough to turn into a story, that's a picture book. When the illustrations elevate the words the way these do, that's a masterpiece. VERDICT A manual for constructing a contented life, this book makes children look deeper and behave with deliberation. And when they do, Henkes says, they are lucky.—Kimberly Olson Fakih

School Library Journal

★ 2024-03-23
Acclaimed husband-and-wife team Henkes and Dronzek present an ode to noticing the little things.

“If you found a little ball on the grass and it was there for days, you could take it home.” Using “if” statements like this, similar to those found in beloved books such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985), Henkes relies on far simpler storytelling. The book zeroes in on four objects: a ball, a flower, a box, and a kitten, in that order. With each acquisition, we learn under what circumstances the “you” of the story could take it home (the kitten in particular requires the most caveats), and in the end, the box, flower, and ball all turn out to be things that serve the kitten very well. The final sentence is a succinct, “Everyone would be happy.” And everyone is. Using no more words than you might find in a beginning reader, Henkes once again demonstrates his mastery for boiling a story down to its most essential parts. Dronzek depicts a cast of three (a child with lightly tanned skin, a dog, and the small, white kitten); each of her images is compartmentalized into neat boxes and panels, all painted with bright acrylic colors that pop off the page. Each element is as accessible as it is ripe for speculation.

Found objects sometimes yield the simplest pleasures. Consider this book one such example. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews