Thursday, August 18, 2016

LucyLucy by Randy Cecil
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There are perhaps a dozen books that I loved as a child and kept in my library lo these many years to share with my children.. I imagine young readers today will not want to part with Lucy. Cecil’s brilliantly unique 144 page book is not only a touching story but a reminder of love, compassion and hope.

Pictures done in oil, soft in black and gray on white paper introduce us to three inhabitants of a city. There is Lucy, a wee stray street dog who searches for food. When she trots along the pavement to the entrance of an apartment Eleanor will lower a piece of sausage on a string from her second floor window. Otherwise Lucy sniffs along looking for food, “These are questionable scraps. Very questionable. She eats them anyway.” She cannot really remember the comfortable home in which she once lived.

Eleanor is a rather lonely girl but a compassionate one. Her father, Sam, is a grocery clerk who is also a very talented juggler suffering from terrible stage fright. He performs beautifully if no one is looking but sad to say he cannot do it in front of an audience and night after night he is yanked off the stage.

Things begin to change in the lives of this trio when Eleanor tries to boost her father’s confidence. The decisions that each one makes leads to the unexpected and there is a rousing conclusion.

Lucy is suggested for 6 - 8 year olds - I envy them their discovery of Randy Cecil’s gem.
















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