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Reviewed by Lois J Wickstrom for Readers' Favorite
James Cagney was My Baby Sitter by Ryan Cassidy and Johnny Ray Miller, with illustrations by Andrea Carvajal, is the sweet story of seven-year-old Ryan’s afternoon with the famous movie star James Cagney. Ryan Cassidy is the son of movie star Shirley Jones and her husband, the stage actor Jack Cassidy. James Cagney was a famous movie star in the 1930s, '40s, and ’50s. One afternoon when he was seven, Ryan’s dad took him to meet James Cagney. His dad had an appointment to keep and James Cagney offered to spend the afternoon with him. Cagney had aged, and no longer resembled the mobsters he played in the movies. Ryan thought that he looked more like a large gnome. Cagney showed Ryan his dioramas and sketched a dancing elf for him, much like the character Bottom that he played in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The two talked about imagination and Mr. Cagney took Ryan outside to meet his imaginary owl.
Reading James Cagney Was My Babysitter by Ryan Cassidy and Johnny Ray Miller and the introduction by Ryan’s mother will provide a glimpse of what James Cagney was like and reveals a side of him that you’ll never see in the movies. He was a man who, with no advance notice, could babysit a shy 7-year-old and have that child leave happier than when he arrived. It’s no wonder that Ryan still has the drawing Cagney made for him on his mantelpiece. Ryan sums up his day by saying: “You need to look for things beyond what you only see in front of you. That if you look deeper and you imagine, you will find all that’s beautiful and interesting and alive.” Recommended not only for fans of James Cagney but for anyone who loves using their imagination or who knows a child who shares this love.
