In this superb companion tale to Cecil's Lucy (2016), the worlds of a moviegoing girl, an audacious mouse, and a crafty cat mingle and clash in Bloomville.It's a Saturday afternoon. Drawn by the scent of popcorn, Iris Espinosa heads to the cinema, passing by a big cat "with six toes on each paw" and a stoop kid on her walk. Taking her place in "her usual seat" in the front row, the young girl sits enthralled by Robin Hood when a mouse with a popcorn-stuffed stomach approaches the adjacent seat. The mouse snuggles up to Iris—burrowing into Iris' pocket—and ends up going home with her; she dubs the mouse Douglas in honor of her favorite actor. (Iris does not know that Douglas is, like her, female.) Now Douglas must brave the long journey—relatively speaking—back home to the cinema while eluding the hungry, terrible Six-Toed Cat, a master of patience "after so many years" of mouse-hunting experience. Similar to its beguiling predecessor, this adventure comes together in four acts full of quiet cliffhangers and thrilling mouse heroics. Cecil's playful language and shifting third-person narration create contexts within contexts; each numbered chapter assumes the viewpoint of a character, major or minor, in ways readers might need rereads to fully appreciate. The artist's duotone-spun, vintage artwork recalls the quaint splendors of yesteryear, peppered with minor visual gags and worldbuilding details. Primary human characters present white.A splendiferous wowzer. (Picture book. 5-8)

Unfolding in acts like a silent film comes Cecil's charming companion to Lucy (2016). This time the protagonist is a little white mouse who lives in the Majestic Cinema. After she falls asleep in a movie-goer's sweater pocket (that's young Iris' pocket, by the way), the mouse inadvertently travels all the way to Iris' bedroom. Rather than shrieking as some people might, Iris is delighted when the mouse pokes her head out of the sweater and dashingly leaps upon the bed st like the girl's favorite film star, Douglas Fairbanks, might. And so, the mouse acquires the name Douglas and the vest from a nearby doll; her adventures are just beginning. The grayscale oil paintings, all circular as though seen through a spy glass, appear on every page and are whimsically captivating. Douglas' journey back to the theater is a swashbuckling adventure, one in which cats and perilous rooftop obstacles beset the daring rodent. But never fear, the tiny hero wins the day and finds a new friend to boot. Steer Mercy Watson readers toward this one.

A young film buff unknowingly brings a mouse home from the cinema. The child names the mouse Douglas in honor of movie star Douglas Fairbanks; before long, Douglas is back outside, where she sees new sights, befriends another mouse, explores city streets, and zigzags through danger on her way home. Textured, oval-shaped grayscale illustrations add to the story's old-timey, cinematic feel. A thoughtful balance of image and well-paced text lets gentle humor emerge.

In this superb companion tale to Cecil's Lucy (2016), the worlds of a moviegoing girl, an audacious mouse, and a crafty cat mingle and clash in Bloomville.It's a Saturday afternoon. Drawn by the scent of popcorn, Iris Espinosa heads to the cinema, passing by a big cat "with six toes on each paw" and a stoop kid on her walk. Taking her place in "her usual seat" in the front row, the young girl sits enthralled by Robin Hood when a mouse with a popcorn-stuffed stomach approaches the adjacent seat. The mouse snuggles up to Iris—burrowing into Iris' pocket—and ends up going home with her; she dubs the mouse Douglas in honor of her favorite actor. (Iris does not know that Douglas is, like her, female.) Now Douglas must brave the long journey—relatively speaking—back home to the cinema while eluding the hungry, terrible Six-Toed Cat, a master of patience "after so many years" of mouse-hunting experience. Similar to its beguiling predecessor, this adventure comes together in four acts full of quiet cliffhangers and thrilling mouse heroics. Cecil's playful language and shifting third-person narration create contexts within contexts; each numbered chapter assumes the viewpoint of a character, major or minor, in ways readers might need rereads to fully appreciate. The artist's duotone-spun, vintage artwork recalls the quaint splendors of yesteryear, peppered with minor visual gags and worldbuilding details. Primary human characters present white.A splendiferous wowzer. (Picture book. 5-8)

Gr 2-4 Douglas Fairbanks was a star of silent film, known for playing dashing rogues like Don Juan, Zorro, and Robin Hood. "Douglas Fairbanks" is also the name of a small female mouse in this adorable book. The tiny rodent is given that name by Iris Espinosa, a young girl who picks up the mouse at the Majestic Cinema and names it after her favorite screen actor. That chance meeting is the first of a series of adventures for Douglas, who goes on wild adventures like her namesake, except on a smaller scale: riding in coat pockets, fleeing hungry felines, and swinging from clotheslines. Told in four acts, each page has no more than two paragraphs. The text includes no dialogue, as if it too were a silent movie. The duotone artwork also recalls these black-and-white films of the past. Each act is introduced with a dramatic two-page panoramic spread of the city block where Douglas has her adventures. Above the jagged rooftops are clouds that look like kernels of freshly popped popcorn. The text is accompanied by more intimate circular illustrations, each one a peephole into the charming town of Bloomville. The story takes place over a few days but feels like the adventure of a lifetime. VERDICT Cecil's tale is reminiscent of Kate DiCamillo, Beverly Cleary, or any other author exploring the inner lives of animals and how they interact with a human world that can be big and scary, as well as full of love and friendship. Chance Lee Joyner, Wilton Public and Gregg Free Library, NH