More than a century after the Lumière brothers made their first movie, the magic of the silver screen refuses to fade. Even silent era classics, such as the futuristic Metropolis, still retain the power to astonish. The talkies introduced new genres-- among them the special-effects blockbuster, first seen in King Kong and reinvented in the 1980s with Steven Spielberg's Jaws-- that continue to inspire and enthrall. In more recent years, technological...

"The Little Regent begins with a short blurb, offering context on the Yoruba tradition of regency: "Among the Yoruba tribe of West Africa, when a king dies without a son, his daughter will rule until the kingmakers choose a new king. These female rulers are called regents." The story begins when Abioye is declared the temporary ruler of her West African village following her father the king's death, much to the chagrin of the village chiefs. At first...