The Circus Ship

by Chris Van Dusen

Overview

“The verse is sprightly, but the pictures are the true stunners.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When a circus ship runs aground off the coast of Maine, the poor animals are left on their own, but they soon win over the wary townspeople with their kind, courageous ways. So well do the critters blend in that when the greedy circus owner returns to claim them, villagers of all species conspire to outsmart the bloated blowhard. With buoyant rhymes and brilliantly caricatured illustrations evoking the early nineteenth century, Chris Van Dusen presents a hugely entertaining tale about the bonds of community—and a hidden-pictures spread for eagle-eyed readers of all ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763655921
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	32,875
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Chris Van Dusen is the illustrator of the Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo. He wrote and illustrated Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee, and If I Built a Car. He lives in Maine.

Editorial Reviews

The verse is sprightly, but the pictures are the true stunners. Bright, lampooning gouaches (familiar from the Mercy Watson series) and dizzying perspective perfectly suit this picaresque tale...Children will pore over panoramic spreads that invite them to find each of the 15 animals and celebrate a denouement that serves up Mr. Paine's just deserts. Splendid!
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 1—After their steamship en route to Boston is wrecked in a storm, a troupe of circus animals escapes bad treatment and disaster, finding its way to an island off the coast of Maine. The 1800s residents are surprised to find zebras eating their gardens and alligators lounging on woodpiles. Sympathies change when a tiger saves a toddler from a blazing shed. When a messenger announces that the cruel circus owner is returning to claim his menagerie, the citizens assist the animals in disguises and camouflage that confound him, leaving the friends to a peaceful coexistence. Van Dusen's rhymed text keeps a rollicking beat. His illustrations burst with color and energy and utilize perspective and texture to add drama and humor. Period details create a counterpoint with elements like a gorilla in a lifeboat. The spread of the animals in "hiding" is pure genius. The book honors the real circus animals that inspired this story.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

Van Dusen's rhyming text takes inspiration from an 1836 shipwreck, but fanciful fun, not tragedy, awaits readers here. The 15 animals aboard The Royal Star swim to an island off Maine after the ship runs aground and the circus's owner, Mr. Paine, abandons them. At first they shock villagers and run mischievously amok. A fire in a farm shed-with little Emma Rose Abbott inside!-engenders a dramatic rescue by the tiger, whose skill in leaping through flames comes into play. Amusingly, animals and villagers collude to thwart Mr. Paine's attempt to reclaim his menagerie. The verse is sprightly, but the pictures are the true stunners. Bright, lampooning gouaches (familiar from the Mercy Watson series) and dizzying perspective perfectly suit this picaresque tale. The reprehensible Mr. Paine is an apoplectic giant striding into the placid village at sunset. Huge, leaping flames dramatize the tiger's riveting heroics. Children will pore over panoramic spreads that invite them to find each of the 15 animals and celebrate a denouement that serves up Mr. Paine's just deserts. Splendid! (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

04/27/2015
Mr. Paine, the greedy, mustachioed manager of a 19th-century circus, browbeats his ship's captain into sailing onward on a foggy night: "Don't stop! Keep going!/ I've got a show to do!/ Just get me down to Boston town/ tomorrow, sir, by two!" The ship crashes and sinks, but the animals swim to a small Maine island, where they confound the villagers until the tiger saves a girl from a fire. After that, the islanders help hide the animals when Mr. Paine returns for them. Van Dusen's (the Mercy Watson books) verse is tightly constructed, and his cartoonlike spreads are polished, literally and figuratively: the exaggerated chins and noses of the humans gleam, and sunsets and firelight illuminate the scenes dramatically. Other than Mr. Paine, readers don't get too close to any of the characters; the focus is on the action. The fantasy of African wildlife on a quiet Maine island will absorb a read-aloud audience, and a clever hide-and-seek page lets readers hunt for the animals, which are concealed from Mr. Paine. A final page supplies the story's (much sadder) historical source. Ages 4—8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

This poem-tale, inspired by a real-life incident, will have kids listening intently for the author's rollicking rhymes and fun wordplay and focusing on the plot: What will become of the 15 circus animals whose steamship to Boston is shipwrecked on an isle off the Maine coast? Andrew Watts uses his deep voice to enhance the author's rhyme scheme; lingering lightly over alliteration, he sketches the voices of worried crew members, surprised islanders, and the evil circus master. This fun production concludes with an author's note on the actual event that sparked this story: In 1836 a steamer traveling to Portland, Maine, with an entire circus aboard ran into a gale off the island of Vinalhaven. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2010 - AudioFile