Angus Lost

The main character of the picture book “Angus Lost” is a little Scottish Terrier. Artist and writer Marjorie Flack began creating picture books about Angus in 1930 — not by chance, but because she was simply drawing her own dog, her neighbors’ animals, and real events from their lives. That’s how a series of five stories was born. “Angus Lost” is the third book in the series. In this story, the little dog steps outside his home, runs after one interesting discovery, then another — and accidentally wanders too far, getting lost. Now he must find his way back!

Marjorie Flack uses several of her favorite techniques in this book. The text is written in a special way: on some spreads we read complete paragraphs, while on others a sentence begins and continues across the following pages, unfolding together with the action. In her illustrations, Flack alternates between color and black-and-white images. Her favorite materials were pencil, ink, and pen — sometimes oil paints or pastels. Only occasionally did she use watercolor or tempera to color her drawings.

Interestingly, this very book about Angus appears in scenes of the Hollywood film “Ask the Dust,” where Colin Farrell’s character teaches Salma Hayek’s character to read — using Marjorie Flack’s picture books.

Marjorie Flack was the recipient of the 1946 “Caldecott Honor” for the book “Boats on the River.” In that case, however, she was the author of the text only; the illustrations for the award-winning picture book were created by Jay Hyde Barnum.