Lost and Found in the City

By Cam Higgins and Allison Steinfeld

A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year

In this first book of the new chapter book series from the author of Good Dog, meet Ratnip, an adorable rat who goes on adventures in the city that are equal parts sweet and icky!

Ratnip the rat lives in the City, where there’s always plenty of food to eat…if you know where to look. Dumpster diving isn’t just for finding food, though. It’s also for discovering knick-knacks and adventure! And tonight, Ratnip is on a very special mission to return treasure to its rightful owner. But will he make it home before sunrise?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Ratnip chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little Simon
• Release date: Feb 4, 2025
• ISBN: 9781665963473

Cam Higgins

Cam Higgins wrote her very first book about a cat who lived in an alleyway when she was eight years old. As a child, she loved visiting a neighboring farm and seeing all the animals. Now Cam has a pup of her own, who is very mischievous, and she still loves writing about animals. Cam lives in New York City with her two children, her husband, and Laila the dog.

Book preview

Cover: Ratnip 1: Lost and Found in the City, by Cam Higgins and Illustrated by Allison Steinfeld.Ratnip: Lost and Found in the City, by Cam Higgins and Illustrated by Allison Steinfeld. Little Simon. New York | Amsterdam/Antwerp | London | Toronto | Sydney | New Delhi.

CHAPTER

1

SOMETHING ROTTEN

First one out of bed is a rotten egg!

Mmm, rotten egg. I licked my lips. Rotten eggs are the slimiest. And the yummiest!

My nose wiggled as I imagined the deliciously stinky stench of a rotten egg. My whiskers twitched as I almost tasted its gooey greenness.

But then I was jolted awake by the sound of paws racing all around me.

I win! my older sister shouted as she leaped out of bed. Her name is Marg. (That’s short for Margherita.)

"Aww, I wanted to be the rotten egg," whined my other sister, Anchovy.

My brothers, Pepperoni and Veggie, both stepped on me as they woke up and scampered out of the room.

You might have guessed by our names, paws, and whiskery noses that we are pizza rats. Why were we named after pizza toppings? Because we live in an old pizza parlor.

More on that later. First, you need to meet me! My full name is Extra Cheese Scratchy Paws Sniffs-a-Lot. But everyone just calls me—

Ratnip! You’ll be late for breakfast!

Coming, Cookie! I said as I dragged myself out of bed… which is an old sock.

I love old socks. They are stinky and cozy. They have a hole at the top for your head and a smaller hole at the bottom where your tail pokes out. Ah, perfect!

Reviews for Lost and Found in the City

[blbooks-14314 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First sentence: "First one out of bed is a rotten egg!" Mmm, rotten egg. I licked my lips. Rotten eggs are the slimiest. And the yummiest! My nose wiggled as I imagined the deliciously stinky stench of a rotten egg. My whiskers twitched as I almost tasted its gooey greenness.

Premise/plot: Ratnip is....you guessed it...a rat. He and his large family live in the city in an abandoned pizzeria. Not all of his siblings are comfortable enough going out on the streets to scrounge for food, but Ratnip finds it quite the adventure. Humans are so curious! In this first book in a new series, Ratnip finds a cell phone and becomes determined to return this lost object to its owner. But how is this to be achieved? After all, he's a rat and the phone is awkward to lug around! It might just take some friends new and old to get the job done.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I am always happy to give new early chapter books a try. Would I have liked it more if it had been mice instead of rats? Perhaps. I do always enjoy animal fantasy. This one was cute enough--well, if you can get over rats and cute being in the same sentence. There are three more books already in the works for this series. And the author has another series as well.