When I heard that there was a small family circus coming to our town I went in search of books to share with my girls, below are the books we read in order from the ones we liked the least to the best.
1.
If I Ran The Circus by Dr. Seuss.
I'm sorry, I know Dr. Seuss is brilliant and I love almost all of his books, except for this one. In the 39 pages are crammed 1,732 words according to seussville.com. Following the previously published If I Ran The Zoo (published 1950) six years latter I was expecting strange creatures and the made up Seuss words but the zoo book is by far better than his circus one. It took me a couple days to actually read and finish the book with my daughter and I stumbled over the words. It started off well enough with the Circus McGurkus was a lot of fun to say and the intro you can do your best announcer voice, but about half way though it lost me with just so much stuff and tongue twister fake words.
As with all Dr. Seuss books it does encourage children to open their minds and you can ask them what unusual things they'd have or do if they ran the circus or to use items around the house and make their own creature with a special talent.
2.
Circus Train by Jos. A. Smith is another circus book I feel slightly let down by. The beginning was wonderful, and the watercolor illustrations are sentimental of a time the circus traveled by train. My only issue with this book comes from the idea of turning the train cars into balloons and floating over the missing bridge. Maybe this is my corrupted adult mind not bending to fantasy, but I just couldn't get my mind over it. I thought for sure there would be another way to move the circus. Other than that one small issue I had the book was nice. Timothy the boy was a new kid in town wondering how he was going to make friends when he lived out in the country, he was a problem solver for the circus, and in the end was a hero who was honored in the circus having made friends with the group of people who made up the performers.
A good activity to do would be tell of how you (or the kids) would have solved the problem of the bridge having been out. What could they have done?
3.
Circus 1-2-3 by Megan Halsey is a book for young readers. This is a basic counting book. The book is intended for children 2-5, but if you get it as a board book it's great for infants as well, as soon as they are sitting and holding objects you can let them hold the book open and point to the number, and tell them what's on the page. "4 Bears" Counting books like this one a great to help learn numbers. Megan Halsey has kept the focus on the numbers and given simple yet colorful images of the subject at a circus. While my five year old and I would have preferred more text "4 ballerina bears in bright tutus balance on balls" this might have taken away from Halsey's point of focusing on the numbers. When you are reading this with your little one be sure to stop and let them count, make sure there are four bears, have them tell you about what the bears are doing.
4.
Not a big surprise to see one of the TV show character books here. I don't think I've read a Clifford book I haven't liked. The big red dog is an example of kindness, and friendship. In his circus adventure Clifford helps save the show, with dressing up as a clown, to saving a high diver with his tongue. Reading books with characters children know from TV gets them excited that they know who is in the book and can play the illustrations out in their brilliant minds like a moving picture.
5.
I love Stan and Jan Berenstain, they have created unforgettable characters of my childhood that are still carried on today in books that my children love. Maybe it's because Papa Bear is the star of C is for Clown, that made me think highly of this book, but it's far from the only reason. C is for Clown: A circus of "C" words has the simple building block style of writing that children like to read, especially early readers. This style of writing and reading builds important memory factors in children's minds. What do we have already? Seeing the same words repetitively allows the child to subconsciously memorize the word. This is one of the fun books that after reading it together five times your child will turn around and read it to their baby doll. The book is funny, Papa Bear is the strong man who can carry cats, dogs, cows, a gigantic fish, but it's the tiny creature that will bring the strongman show crashing down in fits of laughter. One more reason I love this book, it teaches phonetics. The "C" sound is one many children struggle with so by reading it aloud to them the hear how "c" should sound and by having them repeat the words back they are learning the correct way to pronounce the words.
Now for the best...because you know in the show you always save the very best for the end....
6.
This book is quite a world apart from the other books, it's for a more advanced reader (grades 2-4) and it's a non fiction! The fact that I learned about the Ringling brothers and how they started their own circus is probably why it's my favorite. I love a book where I learn something and hearing a true story of perseverance. This is what I want my children to understand, that you can start out poor, on the very bottom, but as long as you keep your goal in mind, and work hard that you can achieve your goal. The story of the Ringling Brothers was well told from beginning to end. This is a chapter book that has some illustrations spread throughout the book. These illustrations were done by William Hutchinson and are detailed sketches with yellow and red accent colors. While my oldest and I read this book we loved to stop and look at the people in the illustrations.
Does all this talk and reading about circuses leave you and your children wanting more? I have gone to two circuses one was amazing and left me in awe (photos here), while the other was disappointing. I'd say go see a large venue circus, the performers practice and that is how they earn their living. I've gotten to meet a talented woman who use to travel with a side show and breaths fire, and did contortion. It was great. But if going to a circus is not in the cards for you or you don't support them, that is fine, encourage the kids to be like the Ringling brothers and put on their own show for each other. You may be surprised at what hidden talents they have. |
| Maybe you have a contortionists in your house |
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| or a snake wrangler |
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In recent years there have been a couple wonderful movies that I would like to share with you, I have seen them both and they brought me to tears, Water For Elephants, and The Greatest Showman.
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