SMALL CLOWN AND TIGER
By
Easy reader typography, picture book tone, distended story. Pete, the smallest clown in the circus, has been ""very, very, very naughty""; left behind when most of the other performers go to town, he amuses himself by counting ""the nine animals"" (not much of a challenge for an eight-year-old), discovers that Small Tiger is missing. Not comprehending which tiger is loose, everyone has hysterics; meanwhile Pete finds Small Tiger cowering in a meadow, snares him with a lullaby, and carries him back to the circus, shaming the affrighted adults. Since Small Clown appeared in 1960, easy readers have advanced beyond this sort of aliterate text, preliterate plot.