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. Crocodile serves as Red Ted's foil, much like Pooh's Eeyore, highlighting the bear's sweet temperament and determined attitude. Stewart's dense environments, filled with texture and intricate details, create a rich world for Rosen's heroes, and his use of graphic noveltype panels offers a good introduction to sequential-image storytelling. A satisfying tale for all involved, from the adopted crocodile, satiated cat and found teddy bear to the readers who will delight in this sweet adventure. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

PreS-K-A pudgy red teddy bear clad in a bulky white sweater is left on the train by his companion, a young girl named Stevie, who, according to Red Ted, "loves me as much as she loves cheese." Consigned to a shelf in the Lost and Found, he strikes up a friendship with a lumpy-looking stuffed crocodile that, sadly, has been there so long he doesn't remember who left him behind. Determined to find Stevie, Red Ted has a willing companion in Crocodile; soon the pair is joined by a self-proclaimed cheese-loving white cat that tracks a whiff of cheese to Stevie's front door. An initial disappointment when nobody is home turns into glee when Stevie and her mother (a bag of cheese in hand) appear around the corner for a happy ending for Red Ted and Crocodile. After munching the cheese, the white cat-being a cat-ambles off into the night. 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.-Barbara Elleman, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

For this story of a lost teddy bear's journey home by former British Children's laureate Rosen, Stewart (Addis Berner Bear Forgets) provides subdued but wonderfully imaginative backdrops. Left on the train, Red Ted is deposited in a lost property office so crammed with forgotten possessions that he and his new friend Crocodile are nearly lost on the shelves. As Red Ted and Crocodile search for Stevie, Red Ted's owner, Stewart draws city streets, bridges, bus stops, and downpours as cloudy gray scenery, like remembered dreams. By contrast, Red Ted, Crocodile, and Stevie (when they finally find her), appear in color and in sharp focus; they jump out from their foggy surroundings. Rosen lets Red Ted and Crocodile languish for a time ("It's no use crying. She can't hear you," Crocodile points out), but restores them to Stevie in a gentle but triumphant finale. In an especially charming addition, Stevie proves she can hear the unspoken thoughts of the stuffed animals and a cat they have befriended. Readers will ponder the tangents and possibilities of this funny-sad story long after they put it down. Ages 3-up. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved