Lost and Found

A penguin turns up on a boy's doorstep, looking sad. Thinking it must be lonely, the boy takes it back to the South Pole, only to realise it wasn't lost, it was lonely. This BAFTA winning animation is an adaptation of Oliver Jeffer's book of the same name, and it adds some poetic and beautiful scenes to the plot. It involves a huge octopus which might scare very little children (though the octopus turns out to be the travellers' saviour at sea) and it ends with beautifully understated reunion of the two friends. What makes it about empathy? Because we see the boy as he comes to realise what the penguin is actually feeling - and this transforms what he does next. The book is highly recommended for 2-4 year olds. The film is mesmerising for all ages (grandparents particularly).