Circus Carnivore - Hardcover

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Grade 2-4–In a stilted, rhyming narrative, a sullen-looking girl with Ping-Pong-ball eyes reveals her secret to readers. Although them Dullundrears (her parents) think that she comes up with her own noise-some words when she won't be goodle, her rude communiqués are actually generated by the noise-a-matron inside her head and the strange crew of characters that keep it going. For example, Noolman there works the liffin bools,/For screeching out my groigles,/While Tubswort toils on the doo-dad machine,/That stamps my niggly foibles. When her parents shut down the operation, the workers must find a new pursuit, and they decide to form a circus. Unlike the nonsensical words of Lewis Carroll or Dr. Seuss, which propel readers forward with breathless inertia, this book's predominance of made-up terms and the multiple typefaces used make for a jerky and exhausting experience. The story line is nearly impossible to decipher and children will quickly be lost in the mire. Done in an explosion of oils, ink, and collage, the illustrations are derivative of the visual style of Toni DiTerlizzi's work. Much like the writing, the cluttered pictures are also pushed beyond their limits, combining so many elements that viewers' focus is waylaid and ultimately lost.–Genevieve Gallagher, Murray Elementary School, Charlottesville, VA
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