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The Greatest Star On Earth (2014)

by Kate Klise(Favorite Author)

3.91 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1616202459 (ISBN13: 9781616202453)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Algonquin Young Readers

series

Three-Ring Rascals

review 1: This is book #2 in the "Three-Ring Rascals" series and our lighthearted circus is having a crisis...or two. The circus owner has a bad worrywart and leaves things in the hands of his assistant who needs some serious guidance from the circus mice while he attempts to recover. In the meantime a secret critic will be picking the greatest star on earth. Who will it be? Soon the acts become competitive instead of cooperative and mayhem results. This isn't such a great circus anymore. When a mutual disaster threatens them all, however, they band together and show their real strength--working as a team. This is a simple, merry chapter book with plenty of black and white illustrations. There's humor here, and some lessons for the reader to ascertain. While not as cleverly interwov... moreen as some of Klise's previous books, this is still a gentle tale that will appeal to new chapter book readers.
review 2: You Can't Spell "Circus" Without "us"This is the second book in the "Three-Ring Rascals" series, which follows the antics of Sir Sidney's Circus, the best circus in the world.In the first volume Sir Sidney hired Barnabas Brambles to work as the manager of the circus. Barnabas turned out to be greedy and nasty, and has been referred to in every succeeding book as having once been the meanest man in the world. Nevertheless Sir Sidney didn't give up on Barnabas and worked to help Barnabas improve himself. Many have commented on the themes of kindness, generosity, second chances, and forgiveness that shine through in book one.This second volume involves a competition among the circus performers to see who is the "star" of the circus, and ends up as a tale of cooperation, teamwork and family solidarity. Barnabas does some backsliding in Sir Sidney's absence, and so the performers, especially Bert and Gert, the circus mice, have to remind him about a few golden rules. The performers ruin their acts by trying to hog the spotlight, so teamwork and cooperation also figure heavily. The performers are presented as normal and decent characters who occasionally mess up, are forgiven, and try to do better. The books aren't terribly heavy-handed about any of this; So, these aren't just "message" books, although they aren't shy about making points about kindness, patience, and cooperation. They are gentle, forgiving and upbeat. They are also funny, silly, charming, colorful and energetic books with wacky characters and situations, that just happen to include a positive sub-text, so don't worry that these will be all preachy finger wagging. While the positive lessons are there, they are seamlessly blended in with wisecracks, jokes, silly banter, wisecracking mice and a lot of sight gags. There are a lot of jokes slipped in to the abundant illustrations, and some of the asides from the mice in the margins have a bit of snap to them.This is a great book as a read-to or a read with, or as a first book for an early reader. Laughs and some sly wit keep it interesting for Mom or Dad. And the whole enterprise is colorful and upbeat. A nice find.Please note that I downloaded this book for free from my local elibrary. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book. less

Download links for: The Greatest Star on Earth

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