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481st out of 2,253 books
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I love the imagination of this particular book, and if I got anything from it, it's BE A SNEE!
Hell, man, this guy got it done!
Treat yourself and pick up four or five Children's books and see them from an adult perspective. Even better, present them to your kids or younger relatives. There's no better way to get kids excited about the written word, arts, sciences [questioning], travel, languages and The World of Wonder than by reading WITH PASSION any of these great books.
While in Oz, I was able...more
Hell, man, this guy got it done!
Treat yourself and pick up four or five Children's books and see them from an adult perspective. Even better, present them to your kids or younger relatives. There's no better way to get kids excited about the written word, arts, sciences [questioning], travel, languages and The World of Wonder than by reading WITH PASSION any of these great books.
While in Oz, I was able...more
If I ran the Circus, I'd shed a gross, large tear--
because all I've ever wanted in my young life was to instill fear.
"What!" you say, "Fear?" Oh no, you're too chocolatey sweet--
But "Yes, yes!!" I tell you my diggest dream is to have big feet--
...and become the scariest beast in the North East!!
"East" you say, "East?" Why, he's always in the West--
plucking children from homes, eatin' chickens raw, throwing stones--it's all a jest!
Those men with bigfeet--a bigfoot as you say--
should leave young...more
I don't remember ever reading this one as a young child, but I'm glad to have read it now. It's certainly your trademark Dr. Seuss book with lots of interesting, fantastical creatures. Young Morris McGurk is planning to open a circus in the vacant lot behind Sneelock's Store. In his Circus McGurkus he will feature such creatures as a Drum-Tummied Snumm who uses his tummy for a drum; a Wily Walloo who can throw his tail as a lassoo; a Juggling Jott who juggles question marks, commas, and also one...more
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At last! I found a copy to read, and enjoyable reading it was as the train rolled. While not Seuss’s best work (but then, not every book can be The Sneetches or The Butter Battle Book), it has his trademark inventiveness and wackiness as young Morris McGurk dreams up is own Circus McGurkus. Stars include the To-and-Fro Marchers, Drum Bellied Tumm, the intrepid Sneelock (McGurk’s unfortunate neighbor), and my favorite, the “Hoodwink / Who winks in his wink-hood. / Without a good wink-hood / a Hoo...more
this was definitely one of my favorite dr. seuss books. i'd never been to a circus as a child but i have long suspected that dr. seuss's version was far better than the genuine article and therefore an adequate substitute.
oh, my, goodness. i remember my mouth would water as i gazed upon these fantastical treats and fuzzy creatures that looked like they might tear you apart just as soon as look at you, except they were from dr. seuss so they'd more likely just give you a cupcake and a hug or some...more
oh, my, goodness. i remember my mouth would water as i gazed upon these fantastical treats and fuzzy creatures that looked like they might tear you apart just as soon as look at you, except they were from dr. seuss so they'd more likely just give you a cupcake and a hug or some...more
A boy imagines turning an empty lot into a circus. The lot is behind a store and the boy imagines the shop keeper will be none to happy to help out with the various acts in the circus.
The text can be tongue-twisting (think Fox in Socks at times) and the big draws to the show sometimes resemble features you might find in a freak show, but this book is fun through and through. The illustrations are black and white with highlights in the primary colors (red, blue, yellow).
The text can be tongue-twisting (think Fox in Socks at times) and the big draws to the show sometimes resemble features you might find in a freak show, but this book is fun through and through. The illustrations are black and white with highlights in the primary colors (red, blue, yellow).
I can't say that this was my favorite book as a child (don't remember ever reading it), but I can say that this is my favorite book to read to my kids. I just love the concept and how difficult it is to read without having to pause or stumble over a rhyme. I don't get to read it as much as I want to. When my first daughter was younger I felt like every night I read The Lorax. Where the Lorax is a great book, I'm just burnt out on it, but the message is better.
If I Ran the Zoo is my favourite Dr Seuss book, so I was keen to read its younger sibling.
In all I felt Zoo was a better book. Circus continues the grand tradition of fanastic rhyme, rhythm and tongue twisters, but I liked the animals and adventures in Zoo better than the circus tricks of Circus.
In all I felt Zoo was a better book. Circus continues the grand tradition of fanastic rhyme, rhythm and tongue twisters, but I liked the animals and adventures in Zoo better than the circus tricks of Circus.
haha!! Stoo-pendous!!!
highly entertaining.....wonderfully written.
It started with young Morris McGurk and his idea to ran a "McGurkus Circus". The place he chose was behind the Sneelock's Store. If you have never been to circus after reading it you might want to go to a circus like McGurkus. The animals and stunts will take you to a new world :) great imaginations. In short amazing piece of work.
highly entertaining.....wonderfully written.
It started with young Morris McGurk and his idea to ran a "McGurkus Circus". The place he chose was behind the Sneelock's Store. If you have never been to circus after reading it you might want to go to a circus like McGurkus. The animals and stunts will take you to a new world :) great imaginations. In short amazing piece of work.
One of the few Dr. Seuss books I did not discover until having a child, and I'm glad I did. Unfortunately it tends to be overlong and occasionally monotonous, but enough of the hypothesized circus acts are inventive enough that they make you want to keep going. My favorite: "Here is a Hoodwink/Who winks in his Wink-hood/Without a good Wink-hood/A Hoodwink can't wink good" Brilliant.
Nicola really enjoyed this book. While reading it we ran across a non-word. Classic Dr. Seuss. When she heard the word read, she cocked her head, looked at me and said, "'xyz'? That's not a word!" To which I replied that this was written by Dr. Seuss. She says in response, "Dr. Seuss loves to play with words. He loves words that rhyme." Warm fuzzies. :)
"OK kids, take a deep breath before we start, we need all the oxygen in our brains we can get before we read this one," were the words I started with before reading this to my daughter's pre-school class. Classic Seuss indeed, the bounding logic and tongue twisting rhymes are fully supported by fantastic illustrations in this book.
Purchased this book at the Museum Store at the John and Mable Ringling Museum complex in Sarasota, FL. If any one is in that area, this complex is amazing - house [mansion] museum, 2-building circus museum, art museum, and then the grounds themselves, on the Gulf of Mexico. And of course, being Suess, the book is great!
Great book to read aloud and if you don't have much time then it would be a great book to read parts of for a few minutes over a few days. I would let students write about acts that they would have in their own circus! What would they call it and who could come see it...great for reading an writing.
Fantastic book for kids! So imaginative and creative. Easy read that children will find delightful!
Dr. Seuss is always brilliant! His stories and rhymes are fun and entertaining! Some of my all time favorites!! Such a great way to entertain children and get them interested in reading!
Dr. Seuss is always brilliant! His stories and rhymes are fun and entertaining! Some of my all time favorites!! Such a great way to entertain children and get them interested in reading!
Dr.Seuss's books are always great for children to read. This book contains many compound sentences, punctuation marks, rhyming words and even tongue twisters. This book may a little difficult for young children, however, they would like to read this circus book under the teacher's guide.
Ok, I got to revisit this book with my 4-year-old lately and it took a huge leap forward on my list of favorite Seusses. While I usually like Seuss's Themes, this is just a brilliant stroll through the great gent's imagination. Much better, IMO even than Seuss's first foray into the how-crazy-can-a-kid's-imagination-get genre, To Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street.
I'm and English teacher and a verbal guy, but in this case it's one of Seuss's illustrations that won't let me go. You can't hel...more
I'm and English teacher and a verbal guy, but in this case it's one of Seuss's illustrations that won't let me go. You can't hel...more
You can't really go wrong with Dr. Seuss. This book tells a story of a boy wanting to use the property behind his friend's shop to put a circus tent up. In every scenario he has the shop owner helping him. It is quite cute and has plenty of tongue twisters.
Jul 27, 2011
Erroll Treslan
added it
This is unquestionably Seuss' finest work and I can only assume that "Big Ted of Springfield" was his father. My favorite part is the one where he borrows from Clement Clarke Moore's Twas the Night Before Christmas to describe the jousting knights. Just priceless.
This book had my boys laughing out loud, mostly at me struggling with the tongue-twister rhymes. The pictures of the circus acts led to a lot of laughter as well. I don't remember ever reading this as a kid, but it should be a classic on every kid's shelf.
Blech. We LOVE Dr. Seuss around here but not this one. It was torture to get through and we finally just had to stop after multiple attempts. Rhymes were weak, which is kinda sad since most were madeup words anyway. Text was too long for the content.
Claire's gift from Trever. They love this book so much. Finally just had to buy it.
"From a country called Frumm
Comes this Drum-Tummied Snumm
Who can drum any tune
That you might care to hum.
(Doesn't hurt him a bit
Cause his Drum-Tumm's numb.)"
"From a country called Frumm
Comes this Drum-Tummied Snumm
Who can drum any tune
That you might care to hum.
(Doesn't hurt him a bit
Cause his Drum-Tumm's numb.)"
This book has a great beginning but then when it gets to the middle it's not as good anymore. I found it really funny throughout the book how the main character would just assume that Sneelock wanted to work at his circus. That was really cute.
I was pleasantly surprised this wasn't a sequel to "If I Ran the Zoo." "If I Ran the Circus" wasn't the typical Seuss in which all we got were made up words but he set up a great connection between the young boy and the store owner.
I ran around for days afterward saying "Circus Mcgurkis" and my mom also got a kick out of some of the stuff in there. Even for a Seuss book, this one is extraordinarily long. Maybe that's why it doesn't seem as popular.
We always read this book before our class goes to the circus. My students love the rhyming words and illustrations. It gets wordy, so I sometimes skip parts. They compare the book to what they will actually see.
Stoo-pendous! Whatever it means :D
The story of a young man, named Morris McGurkus who dream about having the best circus in the world.
AND... The best performance is by...
MR. SNEELOCK!!
Obviously.. :DD
The story of a young man, named Morris McGurkus who dream about having the best circus in the world.
AND... The best performance is by...
MR. SNEELOCK!!
Obviously.. :DD
I think I was half-asleep while reading this one, but, meh. I didn't want to go to McGurk's circus, it seemed unimaginative. And I felt bad for poor Mr. Sneelock, looks like he'll be doing all the work.
I just love this book. Such a childhood favorite. Sometimes I go back and read it for fun. Even as someone who should be much too old to read them they are SO delightful, his rhymes are so fun to read aloud.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seuss Lovers: If I ran the Circus | 1 | 1 | Dec 06, 2012 06:43pm | |
| Riley Hoffart | 1 | 1 | Dec 07, 2011 03:33pm |
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both carto...more
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“And, now, come to this spot
Where the spotlight is hot
And you'll see in the spotlight
A Juggling Jott
Who can juggle some stuff
You might think he could not...
Such as twenty-two question marks,
Which is a lot.
Also forty-four commas
And, also, one dot!
That's the kind of Circus McGurkus I've got!”
—
35 people liked it
More quotes…
Where the spotlight is hot
And you'll see in the spotlight
A Juggling Jott
Who can juggle some stuff
You might think he could not...
Such as twenty-two question marks,
Which is a lot.
Also forty-four commas
And, also, one dot!
That's the kind of Circus McGurkus I've got!”
