CIRCUS PLAY

by Anne Laurel Carter & illustrated by Joanne Fitzgerald ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2002

What’s a boy to do when his mother is a trapeze artist, she practices in the living room, and all he wants to do is watch TV with his friends? “Everyone calls my house The Big Top,” Carter (Under a Prairie Sky, not reviewed, etc.) begins. “Kids knock at the window, wanting to play. Today it’s Dan and Nisha, little Stuie holding his bear.” Fitzgerald’s (The Little Rooster and the Diamond Button, 2001, etc.) expressive watercolor vignettes depict the neighbor children with wide eyes; when they join the boy narrator in the living room, they look a little nervous. Meanwhile, the boy sits staring at the set. “Why can’t I have an ordinary mom?” he wonders as the children watch his mother’s moves. Despite her larger-than-life presence, Fitzgerald shows the mother only in shadow, inviting readers to imagine the graceful shapes she takes on her swing above the sofa. She comes into full view—albeit in the background—when the children discover the boy’s “Circus Costume Box,” and are transformed, literally, into an elephant, lion, and lion tamer. A series of wordless double-paged spreads depict the trio in action. However, the boy is transformed as well. While he initially opts out, he joins in the activity when he hears the children’s blasphemous plan to enter outer space (“A circus has cannons, not rocket ships”), upholding the integrity of the family business. The first-person perspective makes the telling slightly awkward, but the story may resonate with children who feel set apart from their peers, especially with an offbeat parent. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002

ISBN: 1-55143-225-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orca

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S