Emma's Circus

by Candace Fleming, Christine Davenier (Illustrator)

Overview

Emma has never been to a circus, so she is especially excited to see a circus parade in town. But her father says she can't go and see it—they have to get their farm ready for winter. So instead...the circus comes to her! This playful, imaginative tale from Candace Fleming will have readers smiling and joining in the fun of Emma's amazing circus.
A Margaret Ferguson Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466897250
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	143 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

Candace Fleming is the author of many picture and young adult books, including Papa's Mechanical Fish, Boxes for Katje, Gator Gumbo, and The Great and Only Barnum, a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. She lives in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

Christine Davenier has illustrated many picture books, including Samantha on a Roll, a New York Times Notable Children's Book. She lives in Paris, France.

Editorial Reviews

Davenier’s happy, splashy ink and watercolor illustrations tell the story with dynamic, cluttered detail . . . A fun and rollicking read-aloud to share with a group.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

06/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—The circus is in town, and Emma longs to see it. "Sorry," says her dad. There are too many farm chores to be finished before winter. But does a bear on a unicycle wink at Emma as it zips by? Believe it or not, over the course of several days, more and more circus performers show up to play with Emma in the barn, exiting only when Mama hollers, "Supper!" Nobody else notices a thing until the day the family throw open the barn doors and find Emma's circus. What a performance they witness, with acrobats, jugglers, sword swallowers, elephants, camels, lions, and, of course, the original unicycling bear. Davenier's happy, splashy ink and watercolor illustrations tell the story with dynamic, cluttered detail. VERDICT A fun and rollicking read-aloud to share with a group. Children will linger over each increasingly crowded page, enjoying the ways the farm animals get into the act.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY

School Library Journal

2017-04-17
A young white girl who's unable to go to the circus finds that the circus comes to her.This story arrives just as the use of wild animals for circus entertainment has come under such scrutiny it's closed the Greatest Show on Earth. It's a pity, then, that this lively story with its fresh watercolor illustrations demonstrating expert use of color washes uses circus lions, camels, elephants, monkeys, seals, and a unicycle-riding bear to inhabit the plot's central action. Emma, the young narrator, wishes to go see the circus, but her white father tells her there is too much farm work to do. The next day, though, Emma is visited by a circus bear riding a unicycle, and the two play in the barn until suppertime. The bear returns the next day with two circus seals playing horns, and they all play together in the barn. Emma's family (all white), busy with chores (Emma seems to have none), doesn't notice as each day more and more of the circus shows up to play in the barn. Discovered at last by the family, Emma's circus gives a performance in the barn especially for them. Although the conversational text is peppered with the girl's protestations that she's not lying, allowing ample opportunity for the illustrations to turn this into an extended fantasy, they play it straight. While lively in both text and illustration, this book's unfortunate and unexamined acceptance of animal circus acts makes it obsolete. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews