Lorna - by Roz Chast (Hardcover)

About the Book

#1 New York Times bestselling New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast presents the story of Lorna the bird and her treasure collection in this book for all ages-a full color celebration of museums everywhere.

"Perfection."-Maira Kalman"

Book Synopsis

#1 New York Times bestselling New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast presents the story of Lorna the bird and her treasure collection in this book for all ages-a full color celebration of museums everywhere.

"Perfection."-Maira Kalman"

Lorna the bird loves, more than anything, to collect treasures. Sometimes she gathers a twig or gum wrapper from the New York City sidewalks and sometimes it'll be a paperclip or spool of thread in a just-right color from the Upper West Side apartment she lives in with her parents. Lorna isn't so interested in playing outside with the other bird children, but she is very interested in arranging all of her treasures so that they look perfect.

When one day her class goes on a school trip to the New York Museum of Beautiful Things, Lorna falls in love. She discovers that museums make her very, very happy. As her treasure trove of collections begins to grow, Lorna starts to curate an arrangement of beautiful, interesting things -a marble, a broken shoelace, a perfect acorn-and dreams of a museum of her very own . . .

Review Quotes

"Roz Chast is a national treasure, and Lorna is spun gold. So hilarious and smart and heartwarming. Perfection. Museum attendance worldwide will skyrocket thanks to this book. And every child on earth (and adult) will want to have a museum." --Maira Kalman, author of THE PRINCIPLES OF UNCERTAINTY

""Roz Chast's Lorna is a heart-buoying-and often hilarious-ode to dreamers, collectors, curators, and, yes, kooks everywhere. A bright, joyful celebration of the oft-overlooked truth that the world itself is one big, beautiful, mesmerizing museum." --Isaac Fitzgerald, bestselling children's author of HOW TO BE A PIRATE and New York Times bestselling author of AMERICAN RAMBLER

"Roz Chast's singular vision invites us to see the world with curiosity, empathy, and the kind of attention that cultivates a love of humanity in all its glorious weirdness, even if the humans in question are birds. Lorna is a joy and a delight, as deeply satisfying as a perfect acorn." --Emily Flake, winner, the 2026 Thurber Prize for American Humor in Cartoon Art

"If Roz Chast is not an actual bird, she has the spirit of one. To say Lorna is a work of fiction is to get it slightly wrong, I would say it feels more like a beautiful, heartbreaking memoir. This masterful book proves that her usual wit is not only appropriate for children, it's crucial." --Isaac Mizrahi

"A new Roz Chast book is always the event of the year-but I wasn't expecting to find my childhood self living her best life in this one. To read Lorna is to have a dear friend." --Liana Finck, New Yorker cartoonist and author of PASSING FOR HUMAN

"Chirrup-chirp, cheep! Peep, tweet-tweet. Squawk!' If you don't speak Birdese, here's a translation: "This book is hilarious and charming and the drawings are full of really great stuff. If you are a bird, platypus, stuffed dinosaur, glass eye, acorn, or human being, you will LOVE Lorna." --Patricia Marx

About the Author

Roz Chast, a New Yorker cartoonist since 1978 and a recipient of the Harvey Hall of Fame Award and National Humanities Medal, is the author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?-a #1 New York Times bestseller, a National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the National Book Award-I Must Be Dreaming, and Going Into Town, among others. Most recently, she coauthored The Two Saddest Kitchens with Jason Adam Katzenstein. She lives in Connecticut and New York.