Cover Image: Douglas

Douglas

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Member Reviews

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.

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A warm, charming story of a brave mouse in a cat-filled neighborhood. Expressed in delightful vignettes with a nod to the movies of yesteryear, young readers will anxiously turn each page, wondering what will happen next.

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What started as a simple nap in a little girl's pocket, Douglas the mouse is swept off on a frightening adventure. Will he make it back to the theatre he has called home? No matter how frightening her adventure was, she got to experience new and wonderful things and dare I say it, make new friends!
Fun story with adorable drawings!
#Netgalley

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Bridging the gap between children's picture books and chapter books, Douglas offers a longer adventure divided into four parts. I love the detailed charcoal sketches on each page--a very calming, soothing affect and I think the absence of color forces the audience to look a little harder for details on each page.

The book has some repetition and predictability that children will enjoy but also has some elements of suspense and surprise. The main character is a mouse and is given its name in a rather unique way. Douglas stows away in a little girl's pocket and finds itself in a number of predicaments involving both humans and felines.

The words on each page are kept to a minumum so it will not take that long to read. Because the book is over 100 pages, it's a perfect choice for an older child that may still struggle with reading--it provides a longer tale without too much difficulty. It also works well for a read aloud--either read over 4 days (creating anticipation of the next adventure!!) or in one sitting for a child with a longer attention span.

Children will learn a bit about problem solving and following a plan as Douglas makes a valiant effort to return to the safety and comfort of home. Enjoy curling up with this delightful tale of a mouse with a mighty sense of adventure!

Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of Douglas for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

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Iris Espinosa goes to the movies one day, and ends up taking a small mouse home with her when it curls up in her pocket to nap. She names the mouse Douglas, after her favorite actor, Douglas Fairbanks, and Douglas ends up having a big adventure on the way back home to the movie theatre! A companion to Randy Cecil's Lucy (2016), Douglas is also told in four acts, and is an exciting adventure filled with cats, humans, chases, and escapes.

The black-and-white artwork gives a lovely, vintage feel to the artwork, especially when Randy Cecil places readers into a more specific time frame by recalling a screen star from Hollywood's Golden Age (Fairbanks was active in the 1920s and 1930s). There are mini-stories throughout the main story that make this so much fun to read: Iris' sister meeting her boyfriend's mother, with Douglas tagging along for the ride; the vigilant six-toed cat; Everett Dunn, who desperately wants a pet of his own; Mrs. Pennington and her large hat. There's so much to enjoy while reading Douglas, and it's a book kids will want to come back to, because there's something new to discover each time. As Douglas Fairbanks had his own swashbuckling adventures, so does Douglas.

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In the same format and style as his previous "Lucy", Randy Cecil tells the story of a clever creature an its escapades in Bloomville. In "Douglas", readers follow a mouse to the theater, through homes, around cats, to a new friend, and back again. While no longer novel and not quite as complex a narrative as "Lucy", "Douglas" is sweet as ever. Readers are unlikely to ever actually be concerned for our heroine's safety, but will root for her nonetheless and will enjoy this heavily illustrated, short chapter book outing. All named characters present white. Sweet and simple.

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This kids picture/chapter book didn't capture my inner child's attention whatsoever. It was too long for the story it told, the illustrations weren't anything to write home about, and it generally was a bit lackluster. I was getting bored, so I rather wonder at how this would go over with small children. Not terrible, just not worth my time.

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An absolutely darling little chapter book! Simple, and timeless with just enough pictures and adventures to satisfy modern day littles! Cannot wait to share this with my readers! Thank you NetGalley for the review copy!

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*Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for a fair and honest review.
Cute but average story of a friendship between a child and a mouse. I really loved the illustrations!

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it was just an okay story with a mundane plotline. i always have a soft spot for MG books but this one — it's a no. but i still find the main character, Douglas the mouse quite likeable, enough for me to root for him.

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I really enjoyed this one and I thought that it had some lovely images.

The story was well paced for the majority of the book but it did drop off a bit at times and it was quite a bit longer than I had expected and from that I am not sure how long the attention will last for some children when it does go slower so I think that this would be best read as a story over a few nights to make sure that they get the most out of the story. I do think older children will enjoy it.

It is 3.5 stars from me for this one rounded up to 4 stars for Amazon and Goodreads, I enjoyed it and loved the different images!

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