IF YOU LIVED WITH THE CIRCUS

Beatrice Schenk de Regnier's 1964 Circus leads in verbal and photographic ""dizzy razzle-dazzle"" and Laura Sootin's Let's Go to a Circus (1960) in backstage particulars, but this briskly accessible question and answer session has its place somewhere between the two. There is some annoying writing down (""Guess who are the teachers at the College of Clowns. Other Clowns!"") and some less than stunning revelations (about hard work, danger, strict rules) along with more esoteric information (the difference between a funambulist, equilibrist, and aerialist), some silly questions (""Are clowns always funny?"" ""Would you make a good animal trainer?"") along with the more practical (""How do you put on clown make-up;"" ""How do you get to be a clown?"") -- but on balance this attractively designed walkaround, with its lively black and red drawings and its list of ""special circus words,"" should draw a reasonable crowd.