02/16/2015
Hancocks recombines some of the ingredients that made her debut, Penguin in Peril, a success: an animal hero, a casually witty narrative voice, and her own faux-primitive paintings. This time, the story features William, “international cat of mystery,” and the missing masterpiece is the Mona Cheesa (in front of whose famous subject Hancocks piles blocks of gourmet cheese). While the story’s course is predictable—clues include a mouse-size hole below the painting—the focus is really on the glamor of Paris. Audiences are assumed to have a working knowledge of gastronomy as William gets invited to the Homage to Fromage Annual Art Gala by his friends Henri Roquefort and Fifi Le Brie. In the best sequence, William spots a “shady figure” and gives suspenseful chase. But he soon gives up to attend a reception, where a new painting catches his eye: “Something about it seemed very familiar...” (even the youngest readers will see that it’s the Mona Lisa... er, Cheesa with glasses and a moustache). Francophiles and budding sleuths will be charmed. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)
Lovers of art, runny cheese and cats will be drawn to this adventure featuring William, "international cat of mystery." ...Kids will enjoy the bright, bold, generous double-page spreads featuring retro-looking multimedia paintings, lots of smarty-pants detail and the debonair William. Adults will chuckle in recognition at the Parisian landmarks, cheesy puns, satiric faux newspaper stories and the clever feline painting knock-offs of familiar masterpieces by the likes of Munch, van Dyck, Seurat, Manet, Matisse, Picasso, Dalí and more. As with Hancocks' memorable debut, Penguin in Peril (2014), this will not fail to both enchant and engage.
—Kirkus Reviews
Hancocks recombines some of the ingredients that made her debut, Penguin in Peril, a success: an animal hero, a casually witty narrative voice, and her own faux-primitive paintings.... Francophiles and budding sleuths will be charmed.
—Publishers Weekly
William on his green moped and his view from behind a newspaper with eyeholes will tickle young funny bones while adults will appreciate the museum’s collection of classic paintings transformed by additions of cheese...this book’s illustrations and humor will appeal to many ages.
—School Library Journal
A clever and fun mystery kids will love being a part of, this selection will both amuse children and cause them to think and pay close attention to the verbal and visual details to solve the crime with William.
—Books to Borrow...Books to Buy (column from Kendal A. Rautzhan)
07/01/2015
K-Gr 2—Inspired by her own pet, Hancocks here presents Parisian William, a black and white "cat of mystery," who is called by a museum when their most famous painting, the Mona Cheesa, is stolen during National Cheese Week. Putting together clues, like a hole in the baseboard and a strand of red yarn, William deduces that the lanky stranger who submitted a mustached Mona Cheesa in the art contest (with a prize of a year's worth of cheese) is actually a tower of mice in a trench coat. The thieves escape punishment but William is lauded, then enjoys a poolside martini. Hancocks's folk style art blends child humor and puns in her visual humor. William on his green moped and his view from behind a newspaper with eyeholes will tickle young funny bones while adults will appreciate the museum's collection of classic paintings transformed by additions of cheese (melting Swiss for Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory) or transformation (Edvard Munch's The Scream features a cat.) VERDICT Although not original in plot, this book's illustrations and humor will appeal to many ages.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
2015-01-20
Lovers of art, runny cheese and cats will be drawn to this adventure featuring William, "international cat of mystery." Hurriedly summoned to Paris by museum director Monsieur Gruyère, William, a bon vivant tuxedo cat-cum-detective, is charged with solving the mystery of a stolen masterpiece. He must recover the incomparable Mona Cheesa, a portrait of a mysterious woman flanked by wheels of cheese. (She also bears an uncanny resemblance to Leonardo's La Gioconda). William has much detection to do. He soon focuses on a mysterious stranger in a long coat and winding red scarf, who leads him on a serpentine journey through the landmarks and artist haunts of Paris. Spoiler alert! Here the cat's paw is not a human art thief but instead a clever mischief of cheese-loving mice! Kids will enjoy the bright, bold, generous double-page spreads featuring retro-looking multimedia paintings, lots of smarty-pants detail and the debonair William. Adults will chuckle in recognition at the Parisian landmarks, cheesy puns, satiric faux newspaper stories and the clever feline painting knock-offs of familiar masterpieces by the likes of Munch, van Dyck, Seurat, Manet, Matisse, Picasso, Dalí and more. As with Hancocks' memorable debut, Penguin in Peril (2014), this will not fail to both enchant and engage. (Picture book. 3-7)
