Odds and Ends

In this charming translated work from Finland, an imaginative child makes a scrapbook of "lasts" instead of "firsts," inviting readers to reflect on what they hold onto and save. Some people collect pens, shells, or stamps. Others collect friends, trips, or world records. This picture book shares one girl’s unusual collection: a collection of lasts. With a feel for the poignant, the bittersweet, and the odd, an observant, emotionally astute child shares the whimsical, eccentric, and touching lasts she has collected, from the last day cold enough for a wool cap, to the last anxious breath before a high dive, to the last person in her class to lose a tooth, to the last piece of chocolate, to the last words of a whole life. Beautifully illustrated in pencil and watercolor, this is an exploration of lasts that might set something new in motion—or might bring finality. There are feelings of fear, sadness, contentment, longing, and happiness here, making for a wistful picture book in which a young girl’s collection of last moments is depicted with a warm touch. Odds and Ends is a collection of memories which invites open discussion of each reader’s personal lasts.