ADÈLE AND SIMON

Set against scenes of early 20th-century Paris, this engaging, reverse cumulative story follows a girl and her young brother when she picks him up from school. Adèle cautions Simon, “Try not to lose anything today.” But at each stop, Simon loses something: his cat drawing at the grocer’s, his school books when he climbs a tree, his scarf in the natural history museum, a glove at the outdoor puppet show, his hat at the parade, his crayons in the art museum and his knapsack in the pastry shop. Each item is subtly hidden in the pen-and-ink illustrations and unsurprisingly, they are all returned to Simon at the end. This delightful combination of Where’s Waldo, Arthur Geisert–like chain reactions and delicate, fine lines that richly detail the scenes is as enjoyable as a chocolate croissant. Attention has been paid to every design detail from the endpaper maps taken from the 1907 edition of Baedeker’s Paris and Environs (with the location of the ten lost items noted), to a salute to Madeline, to comic touches like a dog wearing Simon’s coat, to the two-page legend that describes each actual Parisian site and location. Très magnifique! (Picture book. 5-8)