From debut picture book author L.J.R. Kelly, and acclaimed illustrator Yoko Tanaka, comes a poignant ode to well-loved toys in the vein of picture book favorites such as The Velveteen Rabbit , The Giving Tree , and Knuffle Bunny. Blanket and Bear have always gone everywhere with their boy—but one day they are accidentally left behind. On a daring adventure across oceans and faraway lands, they travel to find their way back to the boy, meeting new friends along the way. PreS-Gr 1-Kelly gives lost possessions a new life in his first book. At first, the stuffed brown bear and the fuzzy white blanket are loved by a boy. They keep him company and give him a sense of security. When they are separated on a voyage, each longs to find the other. As time passes, though, the bear realizes the boy has new interests (baseball and friends) and he decides to make a new home on the Island of Lost Blankets and Bears. In this land, toys pass the time by playing and telling stories about their former owners. Tanaka's paintings are almost otherworldly. The bears have human personalities and behaviors, and the scenery appears covered in a misty light. The message is heartfelt and it may comfort children who are missing their favorite toys.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library.AB, Canadaα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journal. LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. There are countless picture books about misplaced toys, but this one reveals a little-known secret: where toys go when they’re lost. A boy and a bear and a blanket are inseparable, ever since the boy’s birth—until one day, bear and blanket are left behind on a ship. The boy is beside himself, but the bear and blanket, in a dreamlike sequence, sail off to “an island / of lost blankets and bears, / living in retirement, / without worries or cares.” Although the bear king tells the duo to forget the boy, they don’t listen, setting off to search, presumably for many years. When they find him, he’s older and doing just fine. This is a poignant story of growing up and letting go (think The Velveteen Rabbit), both for boys and toys. The rhyming text feels somewhat at odds with the magical quality of the soft acrylic illustrations, which are nostalgic in feel and at their best when it’s just bear and blanket on the page. Still, it’s reassuring, isn’t it? To imagine an old friend surrounded by pals? Preschool-Grade 1. --Ann Kelley "Kelly, a debut author (and grandson of Roald Dahl), writes austere, emotionally blunt rhymes [that], when combined with Tanaka’s ( One Moon, Two Cats ) velvety but highly formal acrylic illustrations, keep the book’s more playful fantasy elements in check. On the spectrum of stories about the inner lives of playthings, this is more Velveteen Rabbit than Toy Story ."-- Publishers Weekl y "Kelly gives lost possessions a new life in his first book . . . The message is heartfelt and it may comfort children who are missing their favorite toys"-- School Library Journal "Can offer copious comfort to children with the suggestion that their closest childhood friends have found second lives elsewhere." --Kirkus Review L. J. R. Kelly was born in London, England, and comes from a family filled with other writers—including his sister, mother, father, aunts and grandfather. He is the vice-chairman of the literary estate of his grandfather, Roald Dahl. He studied politics at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and writing at Dartmouth College. He lives and writes in the hills of New Hampshire. Visit him at www.LJRKelly.com.   Yoko Tanaka is a graduate of the Art Center College in Pasadena, California and has illustrated several books for children, including the  New York Times bestseller,  The Magician's Elephant  by Kate DiCamillo. Yoko lives in London, England. You can visit Yoko at www.yokotanaka.com.