For some reason my brain wanted to have this title as The LAST Drop and not as The Lost Drop. Which, in the end, will make more sense once you read it.
We have a fictionalized telling of the water cycle. And it is told via the eyes of one drop of water. This drop feels lost, as she wonders “where is she?” and “What is her purpose?” and even “Am I lost?” Of course, she is where she needs to be. In the streams, rivers, waterfalls, and even the deepest part of the oceans that the sun still can reach. Because when that happens, the water drop is then pulled back up towards the sky, slowing becoming smaller and almost invisible, until the cycle starts again. And we learn that the water that roamed at the beginning of the earth, is still being recycled today. And this is why the title cannot be The LAST Drop as the drop is never the last. There will always be more.
This is mostly set in the time of dinosaurs and such creatures, while also having an odd, out of nowhere, spiritual element. This comes into play in this due in September 2023 picture book by Gregoire Laforce intruding a question from Drop that gets an answer from a disembodied voice. You, see the answers the drop of water have been given are vague, and not really answers (she asks animals “have you seen me before” or “where am I going?” but only gets nods and ignored). When the drop hears the voice that tells her the “you’re okay” message, she “knows” the voice and is satisfied. So, insert your interpretation here.
But you do not need to interpret Benjamin Flouw’s illustrations. They are straight forward, youngish, but not babyish. They are not overly colorful, but do not shirk in the color department either. They are cozy and fit the story well. I have read this via a reader copy on line, so I am not sure of how large the final result will be, but I hope it is a good size for sitting and reading one-on-one, but a group reading would work as well. Extra material included.
