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Lucy
A tiny dog, a kindhearted girl, and a nervous juggler converge in a cinematic book in four acts.
Lucy is a small dog without a home. She had one once, but she remembers it only in her dreams. Eleanor is a little girl who looks forward to feeding the stray dog that appears faithfully beneath her window each day. Eleanor’s father is a juggler with stage fright.
Lucy is a small dog without a home. She had one once, but she remembers it only in her dreams. Eleanor is a little girl who looks forward to feeding the stray dog that appears faithfully beneath her window each day. Eleanor’s father is a juggler with stage fright.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2016
3 people are currently reading
687 people want to read
About the author
Randy Cecil
29 books38 followersRandy Cecil has illustrated many books for children, including LOOKING FOR A MOOSE by Phyllis Root, And HERE'S TO YOU! by David Elliott, He is also the author-illustrator of GATOR and DUCK. Randy Cecil lives in Houston.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
February 20, 2017
Lucy by Randy Cecil is a black and white, illustrated story about a homeless dog named Lucy. This story is so touching and reminds readers of the importance of hope. The illustrations are so appealing and even though the book is quite long, the pages mostly have short sentences making the story good for younger readers as well.
Children love Lucy, Eleanor, and her father Sam. It's such a warm story. Great for home and classroom readers.
5*****
Children love Lucy, Eleanor, and her father Sam. It's such a warm story. Great for home and classroom readers.
5*****
February 13, 2017
This one particularly plucked my heartstrings because fearless puppy Lucy happens to look like the dog I've stolen, Lucky. Notice how similar their names are and everything!
Here's Lucy:
and here's Lucky:
You might be thinking to yourself, "They look nothing alike" but you are wrong. They're both floofy, they have cute faces and pokey ears, and they've got that adorable foxishness thing going on. Trust me, if you knew Lucky and then read this book, you'd see the correlation.
I have an unhealthy love for Lucky and plan to never return him to his rightful owner, whom I've also tried to kidnap but Gabe keeps not letting me because Gabe is a monster. Anyway, I think my love toward my stolen dog may have biased my reaction to this book. But maybe not. The story is actually pretty cute.
Lucy is lost but she has a daily routine that keeps her busy while she waits to be found. During her afternoon naps, she remembers her former life, her large house, her stuffed cat toy, and the day she became displaced. It gives her longing but, also, hope.
Eleanor uses a piece of string to lower food to the dog who sits outside on the apartment steps. She does this every morning until one morning, she doesn’t because she’s too busy supporting her dad, Sam, a juggler who is afraid of the audience.
That day, Lucy thinks she's been abandoned by the food on a string so sets out for new adventures. Meanwhile, Sam the shy juggler, also has adventures. All the adventures collide.
I think this book is meant to make people who don't care for their pets feel like jerks. It probably doesn't succeed because people who don't care for their pets don't care if they're jerks but it makes the rest of us feel smug about caring for our own pets...says the person who steals other people's dogs.
Here's Lucy:
and here's Lucky:
You might be thinking to yourself, "They look nothing alike" but you are wrong. They're both floofy, they have cute faces and pokey ears, and they've got that adorable foxishness thing going on. Trust me, if you knew Lucky and then read this book, you'd see the correlation.
I have an unhealthy love for Lucky and plan to never return him to his rightful owner, whom I've also tried to kidnap but Gabe keeps not letting me because Gabe is a monster. Anyway, I think my love toward my stolen dog may have biased my reaction to this book. But maybe not. The story is actually pretty cute.
Lucy is lost but she has a daily routine that keeps her busy while she waits to be found. During her afternoon naps, she remembers her former life, her large house, her stuffed cat toy, and the day she became displaced. It gives her longing but, also, hope.
Eleanor uses a piece of string to lower food to the dog who sits outside on the apartment steps. She does this every morning until one morning, she doesn’t because she’s too busy supporting her dad, Sam, a juggler who is afraid of the audience.
That day, Lucy thinks she's been abandoned by the food on a string so sets out for new adventures. Meanwhile, Sam the shy juggler, also has adventures. All the adventures collide.
I think this book is meant to make people who don't care for their pets feel like jerks. It probably doesn't succeed because people who don't care for their pets don't care if they're jerks but it makes the rest of us feel smug about caring for our own pets...says the person who steals other people's dogs.
February 5, 2017
Lovely story, creative presentation, hideous pictures. In my opinion.
Pictures are key, but not only were they unpleasant to view, but they're blurry, distorted, and gray upon gray. Story simplistic, with one particular glaring squick: who is loving Eleanor, while her Dad fails to make an income and fails to be an entertainer?
eta: maybe if the ending had introduced color I would have liked the art more... but even when everyone gets what they've been dreaming of, they still live in this foggy gray world....
Pictures are key, but not only were they unpleasant to view, but they're blurry, distorted, and gray upon gray. Story simplistic, with one particular glaring squick: who is loving Eleanor, while her Dad fails to make an income and fails to be an entertainer?
eta: maybe if the ending had introduced color I would have liked the art more... but even when everyone gets what they've been dreaming of, they still live in this foggy gray world....
August 14, 2016
This reminds me of a cross between Kate DiCamillo and Brian Selznick. A sweet story about a dog, a girl, and her father who has a surprising talent. I loved that it was divided into four acts and I found myself flipping back to see how each scene built up from the previous.
August 1, 2016
Perfect mentor text to show students how to track multiple story strands and see how they come together and impact each other.
November 30, 2019
love it... wish the pictures were in color
May 29, 2019
Brilliantly simple, this story is about Lucy, a homeless dog, the girl who feeds her, and the girl's father, a struggling juggler. It takes place over the course of a few days and I loved the slow progression of time, how some things stayed the same while others subtly changed. Beautiful little story.
February 17, 2017
A homeless little dog named Lucy finds a kind girl who loves her. Lovely black-and-white illustrations and charming storytelling in this extended picture book divided into acts and scenes.
February 21, 2025
As posted on Zezee with Books.
This was a sweet story about friendship and family. Eleanor lives with her father and tries to help him overcome his stage fright. She also sometimes feed the quirky little dog, Lucy, that visits her every day. Lucy is a homeless dog that embarks on a new adventure every day though some parts of the day are routine. Since the story is told in four acts, each act is about a different adventure. The things Lucy gets up to are funny and are sure to entertain kids.
Though the book looks thick, it is a very short, very quick read. We get an illustration per page accompanied by a few sentences. The illustrations are in black and white and seem like they were done in pencil, though on the book’s cover, the illustrations are referred to as paintings. Either way, they are wonderful and fun to look at. They aren’t very detailed, but I like their simplicity.
Overall: ★★★☆☆ 1/2
A fun, entertaining book for kids with great illustrations. I enjoyed it.
This was a sweet story about friendship and family. Eleanor lives with her father and tries to help him overcome his stage fright. She also sometimes feed the quirky little dog, Lucy, that visits her every day. Lucy is a homeless dog that embarks on a new adventure every day though some parts of the day are routine. Since the story is told in four acts, each act is about a different adventure. The things Lucy gets up to are funny and are sure to entertain kids.
Though the book looks thick, it is a very short, very quick read. We get an illustration per page accompanied by a few sentences. The illustrations are in black and white and seem like they were done in pencil, though on the book’s cover, the illustrations are referred to as paintings. Either way, they are wonderful and fun to look at. They aren’t very detailed, but I like their simplicity.
Overall: ★★★☆☆ 1/2
A fun, entertaining book for kids with great illustrations. I enjoyed it.
July 8, 2017
5 Stars for Innovation and Design ***** This book is INCREDIBLY clever in design and structure: a book in four acts, high page count and card-like paper stock which lends an overall heft and quality feel. Love the precious, intricate black and white illustrations circularly framed on each page. It's a story to be savored very, very slowly to digest the shifts and turns. Randy Cecil and Candlewick are breaking new ground here, blurring the hard lines of the traditional genre and it’s thrilling to see.
September 3, 2016
Lucy is a stray. Each day she must search, desperately, for something to eat.
Eleanor is a little girl who would love to have Lucy for her own.
Eleanor's father is a juggler who is terrified to be on stage.
Lucy, Eleanor, and Eleanor's father all come together serendipitously and there is a happy ending for everyone.
It's a delightful too-short-to-be-a-chapter-book, too-long-to-be-a-picture-book story.
Eleanor is a little girl who would love to have Lucy for her own.
Eleanor's father is a juggler who is terrified to be on stage.
Lucy, Eleanor, and Eleanor's father all come together serendipitously and there is a happy ending for everyone.
It's a delightful too-short-to-be-a-chapter-book, too-long-to-be-a-picture-book story.
December 31, 2016
Lucy is a small dog who used to have a comfortable, if rather formal, home. But she got lost, and has been surviving on the streets with a daily routine.
Eleanor is a little girl who saves her sausage every day for Lucy. She also has a father trying to make in showbiz as a juggler, but who has stage fright.
Charming pictures, sweet characters, and gentle humor carry this long picture book to its happy ending.
Eleanor is a little girl who saves her sausage every day for Lucy. She also has a father trying to make in showbiz as a juggler, but who has stage fright.
Charming pictures, sweet characters, and gentle humor carry this long picture book to its happy ending.
May 16, 2016
Such a beautiful book!
June 12, 2016
I love the way everything comes together by the end of its four acts, all three strands of the story: the dog, the girl, the father. A wonderful book.
January 10, 2020
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.
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.
Read
January 19, 2022This 2016 picture book about a little white dog named Lucy caught my eye because of my soft spot for another little white dog named Lucy who is now departed. The fictional Lucy is a stray who begins each day navigating the neighborhood to find the little girl who feeds her sausage. The same little girl has a father who is a juggler but is afraid to perform in front of audiences. The book is mostly gentle as it pulls in readers with soft black-and-white drawings and an even narrative voice. At 100+ pages, Lucy is longer than a typical picture book but it’s not overwhelming. Each page has a vignette-style drawing and a few words of text. As the plot concludes, readers can ponder whether or not the book has a happy ending.
April 6, 2017
A braided story of a homeless dog finding a new owner and a juggler overcoming his stage fright. The juggler is the father of the girl who loves and takes in the dog, which is how the two narratives converge happily at the end. The repetition of the days feels monotonous to me. The black-and-white-illustrations are charming, but the odd placement of the eyes (in both human and animal characters) feels strange and creepy. A quick read as this is basically a lengthy picture book, with an illustration and just a few sentences on each page, divided into acts and scenes which function as chapters. Good for reluctant readers and dog lovers.
December 18, 2019
Lucy was a dog, and there was only 1 door she could count on. The red one. She really liked who lives at the door. (We don't really know her name.) And she lives in an alley, and sometimes she finds questionable scraps. I thought it was very good. THE END.
July 31, 2023
Cute children's book, a solid 3.5. Love the illustrations though!
March 23, 2017
cute and fun way to see a day through a dog's eyes
March 16, 2017
This sweet book reminds me of a Kate DiCamillo story, Great Joy specifically. I love the heft and feel of the book; the thick pages and art on nearly every page. This was a hopeful story that will engage even young readers. The book is simple and still deals with sophisticated ideas that will provide opportunities for many great conversations. I loved this book.
June 2, 2017
Pupper!
January 7, 2017
Definitely a book to read curled up in bed. I enjoyed it!
July 9, 2022
ONE OF MY TOP 3 FAVORITE read-in-2022 BOOKS!
What an incredible work of art! Randy Cecil has skillfully constructed a children's book that is truly a cut above most of what you can find on the shelves. Here you will find no fluffy pink princess dresses or hyper superheroes; no vapid storylines; no dumbed-down language. Instead we get to fall in love with kind Lucy, her juggling father, and especially that darn adorable little white dog!
The story is built in four Acts (the fourth is more of a postscript, so really the book divides into three parts). Each page has a picture and at most a handful of sentences. And every one of these pages moves the story forward, even at the beginning of the chapters (where there's a bit of repetition... trust me, it's anything but boring). The author has obviously thought through every single detail: there's nothing in this book that doesn't serve a purpose. The language is refreshingly straightforward, but there's plenty of heart and (subtle) humor.
What I love most about this book (other than everything else I love about it! squee!) is that it is appropriate for a fairly large age range -- this will work beautifully for 3-year-0lds who are just graduating from picture books, but there's enough depth that much older siblings can still get into it as well, whether they're reading for themselves or being read to.
The pictures are black-and-white and elegantly restrained, for a lovely old-fashioned cozy feel. No hard edges or loud colors. There's just enough going on visually to guide kids along and perhaps provide some discussion material, without overwhelming the story or slowing down the reading pace.
The book has a nice heft to it, thanks to the luxuriously thick pages, but it's not a super long read. Thanks to the expertly employed repetition, you can also break it down into its acts, for shorter reading session. Really the best of all worlds.
What an incredible work of art! Randy Cecil has skillfully constructed a children's book that is truly a cut above most of what you can find on the shelves. Here you will find no fluffy pink princess dresses or hyper superheroes; no vapid storylines; no dumbed-down language. Instead we get to fall in love with kind Lucy, her juggling father, and especially that darn adorable little white dog!
The story is built in four Acts (the fourth is more of a postscript, so really the book divides into three parts). Each page has a picture and at most a handful of sentences. And every one of these pages moves the story forward, even at the beginning of the chapters (where there's a bit of repetition... trust me, it's anything but boring). The author has obviously thought through every single detail: there's nothing in this book that doesn't serve a purpose. The language is refreshingly straightforward, but there's plenty of heart and (subtle) humor.
What I love most about this book (other than everything else I love about it! squee!) is that it is appropriate for a fairly large age range -- this will work beautifully for 3-year-0lds who are just graduating from picture books, but there's enough depth that much older siblings can still get into it as well, whether they're reading for themselves or being read to.
The pictures are black-and-white and elegantly restrained, for a lovely old-fashioned cozy feel. No hard edges or loud colors. There's just enough going on visually to guide kids along and perhaps provide some discussion material, without overwhelming the story or slowing down the reading pace.
The book has a nice heft to it, thanks to the luxuriously thick pages, but it's not a super long read. Thanks to the expertly employed repetition, you can also break it down into its acts, for shorter reading session. Really the best of all worlds.
September 24, 2016
A picture book story in 4 acts in which a little girl feeds a stray dog and longs for a pet of her own to care for, her father rejoices in juggling but struggles to share his gift with an audience, and a stray dog lives a repetitive existence fueled by the search for food and thoughts of a former (more stable/comfortable) life.
The reading experience here feels like watching a short silent film. The words and pattern to the story are all very purposefully chosen and the oil illustrations appear in circular frames surrounded by plentiful white space on the page. I really like the vein of sadness that unites the main characters throughout the story. It is not an overwhelming sadness, more a silent wish for more; a disconnect that is remedied by story's end.
I can't think of any other book quite like this one. It is quiet and lovely and a very nice place to visit for PreK-2+.
The reading experience here feels like watching a short silent film. The words and pattern to the story are all very purposefully chosen and the oil illustrations appear in circular frames surrounded by plentiful white space on the page. I really like the vein of sadness that unites the main characters throughout the story. It is not an overwhelming sadness, more a silent wish for more; a disconnect that is remedied by story's end.
I can't think of any other book quite like this one. It is quiet and lovely and a very nice place to visit for PreK-2+.
September 13, 2016
It's such a lovely story with lovely illustrations, but another of those brilliantly conceived pieces of art that will have a hard time finding their audience. It's packaged like a chapter book but presented like a picture book, or maybe a beginning reader, but is a bit too long for those audiences. The tone and the vocabulary suggest it's aimed at the chapter book audience, but they'll flip through and think it's too young for them. Which is a shame, because they'd likely enjoy it. This will live through handselling if it's gonna live at all.
November 12, 2016
This book is is too long to be a picture book with over 3,000 words and a four act play. The story is about Lucy the dog and finding a home and a girl whose father is her only parent who likes to juggle Pretty old fashioned type story and same routine every day takes a long time to reach a finale. All in black and grey and white so the story is not good for read alouds to kids as illustrations are better for one on one reading. Reminds me of the story The Skunk and its colorless theme and similar repetition but it is a picture book this is not.
February 4, 2017
A good book for the beginning reader. Every page has an illustration and one or two lines of text. Contains chapters and parts for those building on book reading skills. Storyline is just ok from the perspective an adult. But, for a young one, it's a good starter for interpretation of storyline and deductive skills.
July 23, 2016
I guess you'd call this an extended picture book. Very interesting structure with repeating refrains and charming black and white illustrations. It worked well for me and it will be interesting to try this out on a young child. Lovely story!
February 5, 2017
Perfect to use when introducing drama. It's a novel-length picture book, divided into acts and scenes.
Also great for tracking several story lines to see how the author will bring them together. RL.5.5
Also great for tracking several story lines to see how the author will bring them together. RL.5.5
Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews