This is a great picture book for 3rd and 4th graders. It's a clever story about a boy who loses his hat and has to face the dreaded keeper of the lost and found, Mr. Rumkowsky. The boy's mom chides him for losing the hat because his grandmother made it for him, but when the boy finds his hat it turns out to be his mother's hat--and exact copy that she lost when she was a student at the same school. In a great little wordless follow-up, the reader sees Mr. Rumkowsky finding the boy's actual hat. ( )

When Justin loses the special hat his grandmother made for him, he looks everywhere for it. Everywhere, that is, except the lost and found. Mr. Rumkowsky, the old school custodian, is the keeper of all the lost and found items, and everyone is afraid of him―including Justin. When he finally musters the courage to enter Mr. Rumkowsky’s domain, he discovers a whole world of treasures. But things keep getting weirder and weirder, until way down at the bottom of Rumkowsky’s giant box, Justin unearths something completely unexpected…

This was a really good mystery book for younger readers. A young boy lost his hat and so he had to ask the janitor, that everyone is afraid of, for help. When he does he finds out the man is actually really nice. I think this book provides a different outlook for students to look at every person from. I think the book is really cute and can be challenging for beginning readers. ( )

The scary janitor's office! That always seems to be a common theme. I am not sure I was ever scared of someone as a kid (although I could look that up, I suppose.) I thought this book dealt with the subject well. ( )

The writing was ok and the pictures were great, but the story really seemed to lack substance. It was over just as quickly as it started. I understand the point of it, which is don't judge someone before you know them, but I think it needs to be better spelled out if you are trying to get that point across to a little kid. Also, the author might have also actually described some of the weird things that the kid found instead of just having pictures of them. ( )