Review - Lost Beast, Found Friend

Lost Beast, Found Friend
by Josh Trujillo
illustrated by Nick Kennedy
Date: 2020
Publisher: Oni Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Lost Beast, Found Friend is the moving, uplifting adventure story about an unlikely friendship between a young girl and a magical beast.

Keelee is a brave, young girl who discovers a purple, fuzzy, funny beast! Together the two must make their way across this fantastic land to return Beast to his home. This is a touching tale of friendship and fun that children will want to revisit again and again. The children’s book is the debut of painter Nick Kennedy and comics writer Josh Trujillo (Dodge City). Lost Beast, Found Friend transports readers to a lush, tropical world, and Kennedy’s unique style gives Keelee and her new friend a vivid fantasy world to play in. This book will stick with readers of all ages long after story-time is over. Lost Beast, Found Friend is a charming and vibrant adventure story for the explorer in all of us!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a colourful story, told in rhyme, about a girl who lives on an island and discovers a beast eating fruit near her village. Realizing that the beast is from the other side of the island, she sets off to return him to his family.

The story is super simple, and I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to get out of it. If it's supposed to be about a blossoming friendship, it sort of failed. We basically just see Keelee and Beast moving through a tropical setting. It's also a bit confusing in that it took them two days to return Beast to his village... and yet the story ends with:

Beast lived not too far away.
So, when they wanted, they could play!

The meter is pretty clunky in places. The illustrations are rather bold and colourful, but they're also a bit strange. Keelee is supposed to be an "island girl", but she's kind of a featureless grey humanoid. Beast looks sort of like a fuzzy purple bison with pink horns. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so perhaps the story takes place on Earth... but it's hard to say for sure.

Overall, this is a bit forgettable. Sure, Keelee and Beast may have become friends, but they apparently did so in some sort of time warp. If it takes you two days to walk to your friend's village, I can't imagine that you're going to be having a lot of playdates.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2 out of 5