The Great Zapfino (Mac Barnett)

 

I love it when my students start to realize styles of an author. When I said we had read other Mac Barnet books and asked if they could recall, it made them excited about this one. They were confused as to whether the circus was a dream? Or was jumping out of the window a flash back? We never could really decide.

This book is mostly wordless. Zapfino never says anything. I had the students volunteer to tell the story on each page that was wordless. The things they notice are amazing. Not giving Zapfino any dialogue or text made it more relatable for the students, I think. They could be Zapfino.

This could make for a great discussion about how we need to face our fears eventually. 

My students are always taken by black and white illustrations and ask why the author made it look like that. Usually what they ask is why did he make it so old? 

Goodreads says:

From two Caldecott Honor–winning creators comes a sweet and inspiring picture book about a runaway circus performer who learns to face his fears and follow his heart.

When The Great Zapfino climbs to the top of the circus platform, all eyes are on him, waiting for his incredible leap. But Zapfino is afraid of heights! He can’t take the pressure and flees, boards a plane, and runs away to start a new life.

In the city, Zapfino starts work as an elevator operator in a tall building but soon learns you can never really outrun your fears. When disaster strikes, can Zapfino find the strength to be great?

Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken (Kate DiCamillo)

Oh how I love Kate DiCamillo! She weaves magical tales! Who could make any sense out of the idea of an adventurous chicken?! The story works beautifully.

I don't relate to Louise. She likes adventures. (I like to read about adventures). I did relate to how she needs to go home and tuck herself in and have a good sleep!!

I could totally relate to the other chickens. Their heart races when she tells them of their adventures...and they feel like they've been on the adventure too. And that is good enough for them! I often feel that way. I don't need to go out and do all the seemingly crazy things everyone else does....I'm okay to hear about it/read about it! I guess I'm a minimalist adventurer.

I loved the words in this book. They're beautiful woven. This story was a big hit!

Goodreads Summary:

She longed for adventure.

So she left her home and ventured out into the wide world.

The pleasures and perils she met proved plentiful: marauding pirates on the majestic seas, a ferocious lion under the bright lights of the big top, a mysterious stranger in an exotic and bustling bazaar.

Yet in the face of such daunting danger, our heroine . . .

She was brave.

She was fearless.

She was feathered.

She was a chicken.

A not-so-chicken chicken.

Her name? 

Chester The Worldly Pig (Bill Peet)

This is a picture book that reads like a chapter book in that it is more suited to a mature child who can handle longer stories. The words in the story are challenging. The story is delightful. We had a lot of good laughs while we read this book.

Goodreads Summary:

Chester longs to be a performer in the circus, but the road to stardom is rocky until someone discovers Chester's true "worldliness."

Dad Runs Away with the Circus (Etgar Keret)

This is just plain old silly - a good book for a Friday. Who ever heard of a dad running away to the circus. Some dads are crazy. This one definitely made us laugh!

Goodreads Summary:

"The circus is in town!" Dad roared.
"And we're all going to see it!"

Audrey and Zach are still half-asleep — and can't help stifling yawns — when Dad bursts in with his announcement. Dad is so excited, he starts practicing daring stunts before they even leave for the show. Under the big top, Dad's enthusiasm is downright embarrassing, and Audrey and Zach suspect it has something to do with the generation gap. But even they could never guess just how carried away their dad is going to get! With striking graphic artwork by one of Israel's top illustrators and comic-book artists — splendidly showcased in a double gatefold spread — an acclaimed Israeli author brings his talents to the world of picture books for the first time.

The Quirks in Circus Quirkus (Erin Soderburg)

                                      

The first book in the Quirks series was a great success with my little grade three book club. I spent a lovely couple of hours this Sunday afternoon enjoying the second book. It is equally as delightful as the first.

Goodreads Summary: 

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, Children of All Ages... Just as the Quirk family was settling into Normal... Ta da! The circus comes to town! At school, Molly, Penelope, and Finn are all learning circus skills in gym class. At home, they are putting similar skills to good use; it takes fancy footwork and stellar detective work to keep their nosy neighbor from snooping around and uncovering the Quirk family secrets. Each day in their new town makes one thing very clear: Life in Normal is a high-flying adventure! 

I don't think you would need to read the first book before embarking on this one. The author is careful to explain characters and ideas carried over from the first book.

Finn is really a delight in this book. He learns about the idea of pranking people and he and grandpa have a few really good belly laughs after they pull off some good pranks. We also get to know the little fairy grandmother in this story a little better. There is a great lesson on not judging people (I.e. Their neighbor, Mrs. DeVille, for example). 

The Show To End All Shows (Cary Fagan)

The first book, The Boy in the Box, left me feeling like the story was definitely unfinished. I read it in Dec 2013. This one is book 2, and it sums it up quite well. Thank goodness!! If it had ended like the other one, I would have been mad. Luckily, it does have a happy ending.

The story has plenty of darkness and intrigue - enough to send a mopey kid into depression! It has a lot of dark topics such as kidnapping, bullying, abuse, homelessness, and feelings of low self-worth. There is also enough humour and kindness though, to outweigh all that.

Here is the goodreads summary:

Sullivan is still trapped with the Melville’s Medicine Show, along with Frederick, Esmeralda and Clarence, travelling around the country. But his family has not given up hope. His parents got in touch with the parents of the other children, and his sister, Jinny, is determined to get back on the road with Manny in order to pick up the trail of the mysterious medicine show. And they are helped by a very real clue: a decades-old newspaper article about a travelling medicine show that mysteriously bears the same name …

Back at the show, the Melvilles are becoming unhappy with the children’s performances. Sullivan drops some eggs, and worse, Clarence is finding it a tighter and tighter squeeze inside the “automaton,” the chess-playing Napoleon. They are soon going to need a new child to join the show, and the Melvilles know just the right one. Despite the children’s best efforts to prevent another child from being kidnapped, a new girl joins the show.
But the Melvilles may have underestimated the new girl, whose feisty nature is inspirational to Sullivan. The Melvilles certainly seem preoccupied with something—at every new site, Master Melville can be seen carefully examining the grounds. With their families ever closer, the children of the travelling medicine show band together to solve the mystery of who the Melvilles really are and just what they are looking for.

There were all sorts of ways I thought this story could go. It could have

The Boy in the Box (Cary Fagan)

I kept calling it my dam book. It took me so long to get into it! I have so many books I want read right now - and this one was blocking the way to all those books...like a dam! I had heard a lot of good about it and so I didn't want to give up on it, but I just couldn't get into it. I don't know if it was my own lack of focus or weak reading muscles, or just the demands of everything else during the holidays, but it took me forever to get through the first 100 pages. That was when I really got into it. If I was bold enough to give the author some advice, I'd recommend he tighten up the beginning of the book. It basically describes Sullivan's boring and sad life, for 100 pages. After page 100 he runs off with the circus. It becomes very compelling and easier to stick with! 

 One sad aspect of the book is how Sullivan is kind of nobody. He has a best friend, Norval Simick, but they aren't the kind of friends who hang out at each other's house and are friends on Facebook. They just knew each other at school. Besides the bully, Samuel Patinsky, no one else seems to even notice when Sullivan is gone. They have a cold and impersonal assembly to tell all the kids that he has "died" and then they raise the flag to full height from half mast, and on life goes. Even though Samuel is a bully, it seems like it's the one ray of hope that at least someone knew him - even if he was a bully to him. His parents don't even go looking for him. And the owners of the circus are just plain mean. The only hope is his little sister - and he hasn't always been that nice to her. It is a hopeless situation!

Knowing there is a second book is the only thing that stopped me from throwing the book against the wall when it ended, or didn't end, as in this case. I had many thoughts about what the author was trying to teach in this book. Perhaps a lesson could be to be sure to express your concerns to the people around you, rather than assume no one cares? Or perhaps it could be to be sure to tell people you care while they're around you? Or perhaps it could be to learn to be happy in the moment? Or then again, maybe it could be that sometimes it's worth sacrificing everything to start a new and meaningful life? I loved what "Stephanie" said on Goodreads about the book:

In fact, Sullivan and his story are so bland that they’re not really the focus of the book. The book’s focus, really, is how the other people in his life react to his disappearance. His only friend, Norval, for example, develops a strong friendship with repentant school bully Samuel Patinsky because of Sullivan’s disappearance; and without Sullivan to bully, Samuel finds himself reassessing his king-of-the-schoolyard ways. Sullivan, in a way, is almost an anti-character. It’s not Sullivan, really, that moves the book along: it’s his absence. It’s a risky approach, and to be honest, it was until the last quarter of so of the book that I actually began to appreciate what Fagan was attempting to do here. In large part I think this was because I felt somehow that the writing had a sort of dead, toneless feel to it. No matter the neat plotting and tidily distinguished characters propping up the big top of the narrative, the book just felt flat to me, and I found that I was trying to convince myself to care.

Here entire review is here. It's really quite good. This book brings up so many questions!! There are many quotable parts of the book that are great fodder for discussion.

There are moments in lifew hen, even as you are determined to do something, you know that it is wrong. You may not know why and so you dismiss the feelingas cowardice or laziness or some other personal failing, rather than for waht is is - a warnng from some deep part of the brain. (Chapter 7, page 83)

I loved the way the author described performing:

There is a moment, just before curtain, when a transformation takes place, when players leave behind their ordinary beings and become their larger, dramatic selves. It happens whether the stage is large or small, the audience a handful or in the thousands. It happens whether the actors are famous or unknown. And although he could not have described it in words, Sullivan felt it happen. He even saw it in Master Melville's face just before going on - he became eager, smiling and confident.

It reminded me so much of life as a teacher. It's like performing!

Sullivan is talking to Mistress Melville, the female head of the circus bunch, about his act they have put together:

"You thought of this because I Look so ordinary. Because it seems like there's nothing special at all about me." (Chapter 19, p. 222)

She goes on to say that the audience will love it and that they love seeing something who makes mistakes, who is accidental, who then surprises them with his skill. She was right. Perhaps we love that kind of thing because we all feel a little ordinary and have a hard time showing the greatness that really is in each of us. I MUST read book 2 now. If only I could figure out what book 2 is!

UPDATE: I emailed Cary Fagan and happily, he responded very quickly! The second book is due to be out in February. I think I will go pre-order it! It is called The Show to End All Shows