Steam Trains and Fire Poles: Outdated Tropes in Picture Books

I’m sure you heard the news. After more than 100 years Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey have closed. Their final performances will be in May of this year due to declining ticket sales. Now I’m sure that there are small time circus operations out there in the world, but for a lot of places in America Ringling and B&B was it. You got your circus kicks through them and no one else. So when I was sitting in a Little, Brown & Co. preview breakfast at this past ALA Mid-Winter Conference in Atlant...