Former thief Leroy Ninker dreams of being a cowboy, which is why he often says, “Yippie-i-oh”. He has a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a lasso.

“That is the life for me. A cowboy is who I was meant to be.”

What Leroy doesn’t have is a horse, and every cowboy needs a horse. Leroy decides it’s time he found himself a strong, fast horse. Instead, he finds Maybelline. Maybelline runs on compliments and loves spaghetti. She doesn’t like being alone.

Leroy and Maybelline’s story was a really quick read for me and I found it quite sweet. I didn’t have to work at all to get into this book but it felt unfinished to me. Did Leroy ever find a way to get Maybelline inside his home? I also wondered if Maybelline overcame her fear of being alone once she learned to trust that Leroy would always return to her.

This is the first book in a spinoff of the ‘Mercy Watson’ series. Maybelline and Leroy accidentally wind up visiting Deckawoo Drive, home of the Watsons.

I really enjoyed Chris Van Dusen’s illustrations. Both humans and animals are very expressive and the details line up well with the narrative.

I’ll be looking out for this spaghetti eating horse and her cowboy as the series progresses.