Before continuing the story, let the children guess why and make sure (whether they figure it out or not) that by the time you turn the page that they know the children were leaving bread crumbs behind them as a trail to find their way back home.

—There are many questions you can ask in between, as you know, that will help the kids wonder a little more—

Then when the boy and the girl in the story try to go back ask them, “where are the bread crumbs to guide them home?” “Maybe they are going the wrong way and they center of attention not find the bread crumbs,” etc. Let the children try to answer, and then when you have determined that the crumbs had been eaten by birds, give an example of birds eating crumbs. Ask something like: “Have any of you ever fed bread crumbs (or even birdseed) to birds before?” and “What other times did you feed bread crumbs to animals?” (for instance: the ducks in a pond at the park.)