Where Is Our Library?: A Story of Patience and Fortitude

PreS-Gr 2–The famed stone lions of New York Public Library (Lost in the Library) are back for a new romp. This time they are searching for the entire Children’s Center; it has up and disappeared while they were outside guarding the library, as they do every day. A search through New York City and several of the branches of the New York Public Library system eventually leads them across the street to the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. Of special delight are the covers of children’s literature classics that are seen throughout the pages which will have readers exclaiming in recognition. These also work to further the connection between this new title and cherished books of the past. The illustrations are animated, capturing the streets at night featuring the dark shadows and bright lights of the big city. There is one section where the lions are outdoors in lower Manhattan and the background is very bright, which is inconsistent with the pairs’ need to find the library before the sun comes up and they must resume their positions. Regardless, children will enjoy the engagingly illustrated lions with their anthropomorphic expressions and will be glad that all works out in the end with a new home for the Children’s Center.