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The Secret Circus (2009)

by Johanna Wright(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1596434031 (ISBN13: 9781596434035)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Roaring Brook Press

review 1: Only the mice know, and they aren't telling...In Paris there is a circus, a very secret circus, a very tiny circus, that only the mice know about. They ride a hot air balloon to a merry-go-round long after the people have gone to bed and find their way to the circus where they snack on left-behind snacks and enjoy the show. When it's over the mice return home safe with their secret and a conspiratorial wink that begs the reader to keep the secret safe. Using the very simple repetition of "Only the mice know..." followed by the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the circus Wright opens up the story to the charming illustrations. For the mice this secret circus is to be the event of the season and much is made of getting there as the circus itself, which is how it is w... moreith most highly anticipated events.The economy of text is well matched with playful paintings that have the loose feel of cartoons on canvas. Wright paints in a transparent style that gives the effect of watercolor on textured canvas, both child-like and tactile.
review 2: Thick black lines on textured paper, colored in with watercolors, depict various mice and their trip to a secret circus. Bright blotches of white and yellow paint are used to show twinkling lights on the Eiffel Tower, a carousel, and the stars in the night sky. The text is fairly minimal, inviting the reader into the world of the mice with the repeating phrase, "Only the mice know…" as methods of transportation and the secret entrance to the circus are revealed. The final image, a full-page picture of a mouse with a hand to its lips, shushing the reader, shows the child that while he or she is a guest in this world, it must be kept a secret. Children will enjoy and relate to the idea of a secret world about which only they—and the mice—know. less

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