Review by Booklist Review
When Emma and her family spy the tail end of a circus parade, she begs to go. Her parents, though, say there's too much work on the farm: with winter coming, there's just no time for a circus. Downtrodden, Emma returns home, but the next morning, she's in for a surprise: a circus bear on a unicycle comes to the farm! Her parents are too distracted to notice, so she and the bear play in the barn all day. The next day, the bear brings two seals, and the day after that, he brings three monkeys, and so on, until a menagerie of circus animals and a 10-person brass band fill the barn, and Emma puts on her own circus for her family, who are happy they spared the time. Davenier's jumbled, energetic ink-and-wash illustrations have an old-fashioned feel, which matches the tone of the story (and an old-fashioned idea about circus animals, which have become quite controversial in recent years). With cumulative repetition and an imaginative plot, this is a great pick for group read-alouds.--Lock, Anita Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Emma is dying to go to the circus, but her farming family is too busy. Then a unicycling bear appears, followed the next day by two horn-playing seals, then three juggling monkeys, and on until the whole circus arrives and performs. Autumnal golds and reds create a cheerful setting for the buoyant but nostalgic story. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
