Lost in the Library: A Story of Patience & Fortitude (A New York Public Library Book) tells the imaginative story of the famed New York Public Library lions, Patience and Fortitude, who discover the joys of reading when they sneak into the library at night. Delightful illustrations and story to introduce elementary school age children to the wonders of a library. ( )

Fortitude wakes early one morning to find that Patience has not returned from his nightly foray into the library. He frantically searches through the library meeting other iconic artwork who help him on his way until Fortitude finds Patience in the children's library reading "Just one more paragraph!" of a story to share with his friend.

This is basically a tour of the NYPL for kids and it is beautifully done. The illustration captures the early morning quiet of the library and the text without boring descriptions gives a wonderful account of the various rooms throughout. With its handy guide at the end about the rooms and art that Fortitude visits, this book should be a must for young readers (and their adults) visiting for the first time. ( )

Rhyming story of Fortitude waking one morning to find Patience gone. He looks all over for him, only to find him in the Children's section of the NYPL, reading stories to bring back to Fortitude. ( )

Josh Funk, the picture-book author responsible for Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast and its sequels, returns to rhyming form in this adventures featuring Patience and Fortitude, the two stone lions who stand guard outside the New York Public Library's famed 42nd Street building. When Patience isn't on his plinth early one morning, Fortitude goes searching for him, exploring the library and discovering a few things about his friend's habits. Eventually he finds Patience reading, and learns that these wonderful books, housed in the library, are the source of the marvelous stories his friend likes to tell him...

Every weekend, without fail, I take myself off the NYPL's Rose Reading Room, where I spend my time reading and researching in this majestic space:



I often pass Patience and Fortitude on my way, as they stand so faithfully on guard:



So it is that I picked up Lost in the Library: A Story of Patience and Fortitude with a heart ready to embrace it. I have enjoyed other books by Funk, and expected to enjoy this one as well. Despite all of that, somehow this one just wasn't as appealing as I'd expected it to be. Stevie Lewis, who also illustrated Prince & Knight, contributes cute artwork, and I liked the story idea, but the rhyming text felt awkward to me. Perhaps my expectations were simply too high, but this one ended up being only so-so for me. Still, tastes vary, and this is one I would recommend, especially for children who might be visiting the NYPL's Astor Hall sometime soon. ( )

At night, the lions who guard New York Public Library wake up and have their own adventures within the library. But this evening, Fortitude cannot find Patience anywhere, leading to a long search through the library's many interesting corridors.

This is a beautiful book, with excellent illustrations and a solid look at the famed NYPL. It is helpful if the readers know the library as they can make text-to-life connections that way, but it is not strictly necessary to understand the story.

The friendship between the two lions is sweet, as is their love of stories. Readers will enjoy recognizing their favorite books and characters in these.

I highly recommend this title for book lovers young and old. ( )