Module 13- SLIS 5420

Red Ted and the Lost Things

By Michael Rosen

Rosen, M. (2009). Red Ted and the lost things. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

Summary

Red Ted is a teddy bear that has been left at the train station by his owner. He is placed on a shelf with some other lost things. Fearing he will never see his owner again, he decides to set out to find her. With the help of an alligator friend he has made and a cat they encounter along the way, Red Ted finds his way back home and into the arms of his owner.

Impressions

This graphic novel is a sweet story about friendship and loyalty between a stuffed animal and its owner. Though obviously fiction, this book portrays the feeling that most all of us have felt about our most beloved stuffed animals. I liked the way the author turned it around and showed the bear as being the one with the feelings of love and devotion, rather than the child. I’m sure we would all like to think that our stuffed toys love us just as much as we love them!

Reviews

Rosen's quirky combination of characters is matched by Stewart's muted colors and deliberately hazy backgrounds, which nicely spotlight the stuffed animals. His use of panels, which effectively further the action, vary from one to six per page and provide a quiet but effective pace. Noteworthy is an almost all-white, one-and-a-half-page spread; the sole image (on the bottom of the recto) is the trio depicted at Stevie's door, alone and in despair. The plucky and determined Red Ted deserves a place among the many lost-toys books on library shelves.

Elleman, B. (2009). Red Ted and the lost things. School Library Journal, 55(11), 86-87.

Red Ted, accidentally left behind, is deposited in the Place for Lost Things. Determined to find the little girl who loves him, he escapes the cavernous closet of forgotten toys. A naysaying crocodile and cheese-craving cat join Ted's expedition, and together they search for friendship, family and food in this charming tale. Both text and illustrations evoke time-tested teddy-bear classics such as Corduroy, with its toy-comes-alive point of view, and Paddington and Winnie-the-Pooh, with delicately penciled characters clearly defined against subtly drawn backgrounds.

Red Ted and the lost things. (2009). Kirkus Reviews, 77(20), 111.

Suggestions for Use

This book is a great introduction to graphic novels, especially for younger students. This is really the first graphic novel I ever read. It would be a good teaching tool to use to explain the proper way to read a graphic novel. You could also discuss the similarities and differences between books and graphic novels.