Two for Thursday: Lucy and Douglas written and illustrated by Randy Cecil

Lucy written and illustrated by Randy Cecil

Candlewick Press, 2016, 144 pages

Every morning, in the town of Bloomville, a little stray dog named Lucy wakes up and runs through the streets until she comes to an apartment building with a red door. There, a young girl named Eleanor Wische, who  lives on the second floor with her father, opens her bedroom window and lowers a bit of sausage on a string for the little stray dog. Meanwhile, in another room, her father Sam Wische, practices juggling before heading off to work as a grocery clerk.  More than anything, Sam wishes for a vaudeville career as a juggler, since he is a juggler of exceptional ability. That is, until evening when he is onstage in front of a live audience at the Palace Theater. There, his stage fright paralyzes him and he ends up always gets the hook. With little variation, except in the street scenes, this is pretty much how each day goes for Lucy, Eleanor and Sam.

But one day, there is no tidbit waiting for Lucy from Eleanor's window. Eleanor is watching her dad practice juggling. Without realizing it, as an audience of one, Eleanor seems to instill a confidence in Sam that he's never had before while juggling in front of someone. Excited, Sam goes out and successfully starts practicing on the street, even as more and more people begin gathering to watch him. Meanwhile, Eleanor has missed Lucy, who is in the park napping and dreaming about her old life when she belonged to someone, and wishing she belonged to someone again. Missing the little dog whom she wishes were her own, Eleanor takes the sausage bit and goes out to find Lucy.

Later that day, Eleanor finds her dad sitting in the park, and not far away, Lucy is awakened from her nap by the faint scent of sausage. As Eleanor and her dad head to the Palace Theater, Lucy follows the scent of the sausage bit Eleanor has in her pocket. When the three characters finally come together in the theater, will the wishes of the two Wisches and one little dog be granted? After all, they have been giving each other what they needed all along.

Though Lucy feels a bit slow for today's kids living a more fast-paced life, it is still a very satisfying story. It is written in four acts in the third person, and though the duotone oil painted illustrations are simple, they are loaded with wonderful details throughout. The first three acts are told from the perspective of either Eleanor, her dad, or Lucy, while the fourth act belongs to all three. There is also a definite old fashioned feeling of the vaudeville theater in the simple, straightforward text, and while somewhat repetitive for plot purposes, not a word is wasted or gratuitous. Young readers will immediately be drawn to Eleanor's kindness, and relate to her father's wish to succeed at what he loves to do, and cheer for Lucy as she looks for food scrapes and a new home. Pair this with Douglas to use as a picture book for older readers or for your transitional readers.

Douglas written and illustrated by Randy Cecil

2019, Candlewick Press, 120 pages

Once again we return for more thrilling adventures in Bloomville in this companion to Lucy. Every Saturday afternoon, Iris Espinoza puts on her sister's blue sweater and, following the tantalizing scent of fresh popcorn, heads to the Majestic Theater for the matinee movie. On her way to the theater, Iris passes a big cat with six toes on each paw lazing on one stoop, and a boy named Everette, who wants nothing more than to have a nice pet, stilling on another stoop.

Arriving at the Majestic, Iris buys a bag of popcorn and a theater ticket, then heads to her favorite seat in the front row. As she watches the film and eats her popcorn, she's joined by a little mouse, who also enjoys popcorn, and who decides to take a little nap in the pocket of the sweater Iris is wearing.

When Iris gets home and discovers the little mouse has come home with her, she decides to name it Douglas, after her favorite actor, Douglas Fairbanks, not knowing the mouse is female. But when Iris hears her sister coming, she quickly hides Douglas in the sweater pocket, the very sweater Adriana has decided to wear to meet her boyfriend's parents. On her way to his house, she is followed by the six-toed cat, a champion mouser who has caught Douglas's scent. Imagine everyone's surprise when it is discovered that Adriana has a mouse in her pocket, including Douglas. She now has to escape the boyfriend's apartment, and find her way back to the Majestic Theater, facing all kinds of perils and even more cats besides the six-toed mouser.

Organized into four acts, written in the third person, and each presenting a characters point of view, this book's story and format echoes the old silent movies Iris loves to watch. Like the movies, there is no dialogue, and the oil painted illustrations are done in black and white, with the exception of the two-page spread that introduced each act. These are done in a circle that has the sense of looking through a camera lens. Sandwiched within the story are entertaining subplots and astute readers will recognize people and places from Lucy. And the ending...well, who knows what further adventures Douglas will have after she and the new friends she meets along the ways, and whom Iris names Pearl after a favorite actress, Pearl While, both decide to take a name in the pocket of the sweater Iris is wearing. Pair this with Lucy to use as a picture book for older readers or for your transitional readers.

Two for Thursday: Lucy and Douglas

Lucy and Douglas are recommended for readers age 6+
Both books were ARCs provided by the publisher, Candlewick Press

🐸🐸Best Buds Under Frogs (Book 1 of The Rizzlerunk Club series) written and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli

There's nothing worse than being the new kid in school, especially if you are a shy, introverted kid like fourth grader Lily Lattuga. But luckily, that first day, Lily is invited to play four square with three other girls, and things go well, until she throws her lunch up in the middle of the game. She is quickly escorted to the nurse's office by another girl, who introduces herself as Darby Dorski.

Darby is as outgoing as Lily is shy and with a bit of a devil may care attitude. She seems to want to befriend Lily, but Lily wants nothing to do with her. Eventually, though, the two girls do become friends and have lots of fun, including trying to get some of the many frogs on Darby's side of the lake they both live on to settle in on Lily side, where no frogs live.

Lily is also the kind of kid who never does anything that gets her in trouble, but learns that Darby had a best friend named Jill, who always seemed to get only Darby in trouble. Jill had moved to London because of her mother's job eight months ago, and Darby is relieved she's gone. - no more getting in trouble. Soon Lily and Darby form the Rizzlerunk Club, of which they are the only two members. That is until Jill's return, complete with school uniform and British accent. Jill insists on not only joining the Rizzlerunk Club, but also being Queen of it.

Before Lily knows it, she and Darby both seem to be under Jill's spell and together they are carrying out Jill's pranks and schemes, and landing in trouble all over again, while Jill acts like she had nothing to do with any of them. Ultimately, Lily realizes the person she has become under Jill's influence is not who she really is and makes a decision that could cost her her friendship with Darby.

Patricelli, author/illustrator of those some wonderful board books, has presented a realistic portrayal of how fourth grade life, friendship and peer pressure dynamics can work in Best Buds Under Frogs. Fourth grade is a real transition year for kids, and can be particularly hard to navigate, and worse when you are the new girl and care about what people think about you, as Lily does. And Darby, for all her self-confidence when Jill isn't around, seems to be putty in her hands when she returns. It's an interesting reaction to Jill, considering that Darby's family has a somewhat loosey-goosey approach to life in general and child rearing in particular, and that they come across as a close, loving, intact family, leaving one to wonder why she needs Jill in the first place. I never felt like I found a satisfactory answer for it. Lily's family is just a close and loving, but a little stricter - for example, TV and sweets are both limited by their health-conscious mother. Both girls have siblings, but so far, their troubles are only school and friend related.

Both girls (and Jill) live on a large lake, and although they always wear life vests when in their pedal or rowboats, they are always in them without an adult, even in rainstorms. I had kind of a problem with that or am I being overly parental about it? Because then, I thought of things I did at that age, like riding the subway alone, or going to Prospect Park lake with my best friend and catching tadpoles and the occasional frog (none of which we kept) by ourselves.

For the most part, I found this book to be very funny, and I enjoyed Lily's cartoon-like illustrations that Patricelli peppered throughout the book. I thought this is a good transition book for kids ready to move on from chapter books, but not ready for middle grade stories or for students in fourth grade, and whose reading level is at a second or third grade level. I always found in my classes that books at that level didn't interest them. This would have been an ideal story for them.

I'm looking forward to reading Lily and Darby's next adventure.

This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Candlewick Press

Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

This second story from Deckawoo Drive (Leroy Ninker Saddles Up was the first), young readers meet Francine Poulet, the fearless and fearsome animal control officer.  Following in her father and grandmother's footsteps, Francine is a first class animal control officer,  in fact, she's won 47 animal control trophies, more than anyone else.

Since nothing scars Francine, when she receives an hysterical call from Mrs. Bissinger that there was a most unusual raccoon living on her roof and tormenting her by screaming her name all night long, she is immediately on the job.  Undaunted and unafraid, Francine arrives at Mrs. Bissinger totally confidant the she will be able to capture the raccoon.  That is, until it begins to scream her name, too.  Suddenly, for the first time ever, Francine is afraid, so afraid she falls off the roof and lands in the hospital with several broken bones and a very broken spirit.

When Francine recovers, she quits her job as animal control officer and takes a job as a cashier at Clyde's Bait, Feed, Tackle, and Animal Necessities store.  One day, two children, Frank and Stella, come in looking some sweets.  Frank immediately recognizes Francine from a newspaper story about her and knows all about her exploits as an animal control officer and her fall from animal control grace and Mrs. Bissinger's roof.  But why quit?  Frank explains to her that the raccoon is a screamer, and suddenly Francine remembers her father talking about a screaming raccoon.

The raccoon had gotten the best of Francine, an otherwise outstanding animal control officer.  Maybe, Frank suggests, she is still a great one.  Could that be true, Francine thinks, could she possibly go back and get that screaming raccoon, despite everything that happened.

What do you think she will do?

Kate DiCamillo really knows how to write great transitional books for young readers, first with her Mercy Watson series, and now with Tales from Deckawoo Drive.  What is especially nice for these young readers is that they will recognize some characters from the first series in this second one, providing connection and continuity, a great support for developing readers at this age.

And this sense of continuity carries over to the illustrations by Chris Van Dusen, who has done the same type of spot black and white gouache illustrations throughout this book, just as he has for the Mercy Watson and Leroy Ninker books.

Some of the vocabulary will be a little sophisticated for some readers, but will hopefully encourage them to look up words they don't know.  And some kids might be reluctant to read a book with an adult main character, but I think Francine is a humorous enough character that they will overlook that (just look at the cover), particularly if they see her in comparison to the other adult in the story, Mrs. Bissinger.  

Like Leroy Ninker, this is a fun story that has a nice quiet message about not giving up even if you don't succeed the first time around.  And they may enjoy learning that Francine's last name, Poulet, means chicken in French (lots of potential classroom discussion about that, I think).   I also liked seeing the encouragement that Francine receives from Frank.  Sometimes kids just see things more clearly than adults - in this case, Frank reminds Francine to just be herself and be proud of it - and it works.

I'm curious to read the next installment of Tales from Deckawoo Drive, and I hope young readers like this one so much that they will be as well.

A useful Teacher's Guide is available to download HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Candlewick Press