The Show Must Go On! (Three-Ring Rascals Series #1)

by Kate Klise, M. Sarah Klise

Overview

In their trademark style, author Kate Klise and illustrator M. Sarah Klise blend a story bursting with jokes, puns, and wordplay with illustrations, signs, letters, recipes, and bold graphics to introduce Three-Ring Rascals.

When Sir Sidney, a kindly old circus owner, becomes too tired to travel with his show, he places a Help Wanted ad in the newspaper. Enter Barnabas Brambles: “I have a degree in lion taming from the University of Piccadilly Circus.” But does Leo the lion need taming? Will Elsa the elephant still get her gourmet peanuts? And what will Brambles say when he discovers Bert and Gert—two mice who travel with the circus on popcorn cleanup patrol?

Brambles has big plans: More cities! More shows! No more free popcorn. Soon he’s made a big mess of Sir Sidney’s Circus, but Leo, Elsa, Bert, Gert, and the rest of the performers agree: The Show Must Go On!

Black and white line drawings throughout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616202446
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	09/10/2013
Series:	Three-Ring Rascals Series , #1
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise have collaborated on numerous award-winning middle-grade and picture-book projects, including the Regarding the Fountain and 43 Old Cemetery Road series. Kate lives in Norwood, Missouri. She visits more than seventy school classrooms a year. Sarah Klise lives in Berkeley, California. Visit www.kateandsarahklise.com for more information. (By the way, Klise rhymes with mice.)

Illustrator M. Sarah Klise and author Kate Klise and are sisters and collaborators. They started making books together many years ago in their bedroom in Peoria, Illinois. Kate wrote the words; Sarah drew the pictures. Their first book was about an adventure-loving little mouse that traveled around the country. That story was never published. (In fact, it ended up in the garbage can!) But the Klise sisters had so much fun making their first book, they kept writing and drawing. And now they've published more than twenty award-winning books for young readers, including Regarding the Fountain and Dying to Meet You. The Klise sisters no longer share a bedroom. Kate lives in Missouri and travels often to visit schools and libraries. Sarah lives in California. But the two sisters still enjoy working together, especially on their new series about a pair of circus mice. (By the way, "Klise" rhymes with "mice.")

Editorial Reviews

Elderly Sir Sidney loves his circus, and he pampers his animals and performers, as well as the two mice and crow who are part of its extended family. When he decides to take some time off, he hires brash Barnabas Brambles, who promises to care for the circus with the same doting attention as Sir Sidney. As soon as the kindhearted owner leaves, though, Barnabas reveals his true plans, and they do not involve any doting; the top of his to-do list reads, “Make $$$ for me.” With a terrible meanie in charge (Barnabas intends to increase the number of shows, charge more, and sell beloved animals), things look grim, but the circus folk hold onto their humor in this sweetly nutty kickoff to the Klise sisters’ Three Ring Rascals series. Cartoon spot illustrations play up the comical mood—mice Bert and Gert deploy quips left and right, and the circus train spends a great deal of time atop the St. Louis Arch—in this free-spirited story that concludes with a lesson in kindness and a promise of more fun to come. Ages 7–10. (Sept)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 3–5—The owner of Sir Sidney's Circus needs a vacation, and after reviewing and interviewing many potential circus managers, he chooses Barnabas Brambles, a graduate of the University of Piccadilly Circus in London with a degree in lion taming. But Barnabas is in need of making money and changes Sir Sidney's Circus schedule and pricing for his own profit and treats the animals poorly. Things seem to go wrong almost from the start, and he cancels all but the final show of the week. Barnabas is a complete fraud and knows nothing of circus life, yet Sir Sidney believes that the scoundrel can be a better man tomorrow. Whimsical illustrations are generously positioned throughout the text and play a key role in the book's pacing. Beginning chapter-book readers will thoroughly enjoy this fun and fast-paced title, which has lessons in kindness along the way.—Patty Saidenberg, George Jackson Academy, New York City

School Library Journal

In this entertaining chapter book, the first in a series, readers meet kind Sir Sidney and the gentle performers and hands in his circus. But Sir Sidney is tired and leaves the circus under the management of new-hire Barnabas Brambles for a week. That Sir Sidney is beloved by all is quickly established, presenting a sharp contrast to the bully Brambles. The scoundrel immediately comes up with a "to do" list that includes selling the animals and eliminating the mice Bert and Gert. (Gert is almost more distressed by Brambles' ill-fitting suit and vows to tailor it.) Revealed almost entirely through dialogue, the put-upon animals' solidarity is endearing. The story, like the circus train now driven by the Famous Flying Banana Brothers, takes absurd loops and turns. The art is fully integrated, illustrating the action and supplementing the text with speech bubbles, facsimile letters and posters, Brambles' profit-and-loss notes, examples of Gert's invented vocabulary and more. Brambles' plans go awry, of course, and he gets his comeuppance. With Bert and Gert acting as his conscience, along with a suit from Gert that finally fits and a dose of forgiveness, Brambles makes a turnaround. Sensitive children may doubt Sir Sidney's wisdom in leaving his animals with an unscrupulous man, and the closing message is a tad didactic, but that doesn't blunt the fun too much. Most children will agree the book is "smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful)." (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews

Entertaining . . . Most children will agree the book is ‘smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).’” —Kirkus Reviews

“[A] sweetly nutty kickoff to the Klise sisters’ Three Ring Rascals series. Cartoon spot illustrations play up the comical mood . . . in this free-spirited story that concludes with a lesson in kindness and a promise of more fun to come.” —Publishers Weekly

“Beginning chapter-book readers will thoroughly enjoy this fun and fast-paced title, which has lessons in kindness along the way.” —School Library Journal

“The Klises maintain a light touch with the messaging, giving the book a comforting thematic unity around the importance of kindness; and humor is apparent in every detail, from the smallest conversational exchanges to the extravagantly silly set pieces that mark the book’s major plot points. Readers will eagerly await the next volume of over-the-(big)-top hijinks.” —The Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

“Entertaining . . . Most children will agree the book is ‘smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).’” --Kirkus Reviews

“[A] sweetly nutty kickoff to the Klise sisters’ Three Ring Rascals series. Cartoon spot illustrations play up the comical mood . . . in this free-spirited story that concludes with a lesson in kindness and a promise of more fun to come.” --Publishers Weekly

“Beginning chapter-book readers will thoroughly enjoy this fun and fast-paced title, which has lessons in kindness along the way.” --School Library Journal

“The Klises maintain a light touch with the messaging, giving the book a comforting thematic unity around the importance of kindness; and humor is apparent in every detail, from the smallest conversational exchanges to the extravagantly silly set pieces that mark the book’s major plot points. Readers will eagerly await the next volume of over-the-(big)-top hijinks.” --The Horn Book Magazine

Reviews