Blog Tour: Somewhere Lost by Just Write for Kids and Friends

Title: Somewhere Lost

Author: Just Write for Kids and Friends

Genre: Adventure

Publisher: Daisy Lane Publishing

Published: 1^st May 2025

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 28

Price: $26.99

Synopsis: SOMEWHERE LOST by Just Write for Kids Australia and Friends is a special edition hard cover picture book anthology, written and illustrated in the form of an enchanting adventure by various local and award-winning illustrators of children’s books.

In this delightfully exciting story, our artists take our beloved new characters, Walter the duck and Scout the frog, on an interpretive journey through various metaphorical states of being ‘lost’. Walter is literally and emotionally lost without his friend Scout to keep him on track, especially after being whooshed away into lost worlds of snow, jungle, desert, space, socks, their own worries and other imaginative and fantastical places! How will they reunite, and will Walter find a new perspective?

An inspiring and charming collection of artistic compositions, lyrical language and literary devices, and interactive elements that will spark curiosity, wonderment and engagement as readers get lost in the pages from start to end.

We are honoured to be sponsoring our charity of choice by donating a percentage of book sale proceeds to The Indigenous Literacy Foundation – assisting with funding and literacy opportunities for Indigenous children and families living in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. We thank you kindly for your generous support.

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When Walter the duck is separated from his froggy friend, Scout, their physical journey to find each other becomes metaphorical and interpretive as they traverse different worlds and states of being lost. Lost can mean many different things – a person who is lost, lost in space, lost in the jungle, or something like lost socks. Or being lost in your imagination. Scout and Walter are lost and separated in so many ways – but can they find their way back to each other?

Each author –Michèle Dodd, Hannah Friend, Daniela Glyntzos, Jade Goodwin, Jennifer Horn, Lellie Lopter, Lorraine & Jessica Miller, Mietta Postlethwaite, Rachael Robertson, Romi Sharp, Nandina Vines – wrote one page of the story, as well as illustrating their pages, and the cover and one internal image was illustrated by Carla Hoffenberg to bring Walter and Scout’s story about the things we lose and the quest to find them and bring them back to us. The lost friends are seeking each other through the various worlds and environments – will they find each other in space? In a pile of lost socks? In the bright green jungle?

Like many picture books, it is a story of hope and friendship. It’s a gorgeous collaborative story, complemented by the authors and Carla Hoffberg’s lovely illustrations that bring the story to life, and give Scout and Walter’s story life. Their friendship sings as they go through the different landscapes, and it is clear that these two are very important to each other. Poor Walter has also always had a very bad sense of direction, which has led to him getting lost. Having a character like Walter shows that it’s okay not to be perfect, because we are all still learning at every stage in our lives. Walter’s journey highlights a desire to learn, to work out where he fits in and how to find things that are lost – and about not giving up too soon.

Books that celebrate bravery and overcoming fears or changes are becoming more common these days. But each tackles the issues differently and brings them to life in different ways. In this story, imagination is also at the heart of everything, as Walter and Scout bring the world around them to life in magical ways during their search for each other. The power of imagination shines through in this book as it is used to help the friends find each other. It is a book that will spark curiosity and creativity in younger readers, and show them the magic of books and stories. It is a beautiful book that shows how to be creative and joyful, and shows the power of friendship, and supporting each other through changes that we can’t control.

This is a great book full of heart and soul that everyone will adore.