Circus: A Classic Picture Book About the Big Top with Colorful Cut-Paper Art for Kids

by Lois Ehlert

Simple text and brilliantly colored cut-paper illustrations take children into a big top of circus excitement starring leaping lizards, marching snakes, whistling parrots, and the tumbling Zucchini Brothers. Share this classic picture book at home or at circle time. Lois Ehlert, of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom fame, was a picture book genius. "A tour de force. After some exuberant preliminaries, a colorful master of ceremonies welcomes readers to 'the greatest circus on earth.' They are then treated to a series of double spreads depicting an array of Hugo, the world's biggest elephant; the Pretzel brothers; Samu the tiger; marching snakes and leaping lizards; the flying Zucchinis; a lion and his tamer—and of course, cotton candy, snow cones, and a lovable clown." (School Library Journal) "Ehlert's characteristically vibrant colors and exhilarating style find even broader scope under the big top. Performed with panache, her junket gives new life to a favorite children's venue and is well worth the price of admission." (Publishers Weekly)

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Animals

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Lois Ehlert has created numerous inventive, celebrated, and bestselling picture books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Holey Moley, The Scraps Book, Mice, Ten Little Caterpillars, RRRalph, Lots of Spots, Boo to You!, Leaf Man, Waiting for Wings, Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, and Color Zoo, which received a Caldecott Honor. She lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[John]

I like this book because it's all like day-glo; there's a book also called The Day-Glo Brothers who invented day-glo. This book isn't about day-glo, even though I'm talking about it; it's about the circus. They go across wires, they go down and they have tigers; they jump through hoops.

[Nicole Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Circus takes you through what all one would experience while at the circus. The illustrations are bright and Ehlert uses lots of color and geometric shapes. Cute picture book for kids and would definitely hold a child's attention with all the bright colors.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

My children are fans of Lois Ehlert. They discovered her books independently of each other. My son found her through Eating the Alphabet (1996) and Planting a Rainbow (1988). My daughter found her through her illustrations of the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom series by Bill Martin Jr.

Harriet's latest pick from the library is Circus. Ehlert's usual bold and geometric illustrations are taken to a new extreme. They are so saturated that they are almost hard on the eyes. All the pictures are set against a black background which intensifies the affect.

Although she liked sitting through the story to see all the different circus acts she decided not to re-read it. That makes a first for an Ehlert book. Typically we'll read it once together, then she'll look at the illustrations by herself and then ask me to re-read, all in close succession.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Circus is a colorful rendition of the acts featured in a real circus. One could spend hours gazing at the vivid colors and wonderful shapes used to create different figures in this book.

Read more on The Book Banana by Kathleen the Bookworm and on Kathleen the Bookworm's Instagram.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Colorful. Might work for storytime.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not impressed with how a woman was portrayed in this book. Not recommended.

[The Transmuted Tree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red 2nd

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A colorful book in Ehlert's typical style, I was surprised that this had more of a plot than her other books. I was expecting bold colors and cutout shapes like in "Color Farm" and "Color Zoo."

[Aarvik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read!

[Kristy Breese · Rating 3 out of 5]

What? This book puts the circus right in the palms of your hands. As you read this book Ehlert walks you through the different experiences one might encounter as if they were at the circus.

So What? I love the bright and vibrant colors Ehlert uses. She uses geometric shapes in creating the illustrations. I believe these illustrations will keep children engaged.

Now What? This book will be fun to read aloud in class during a unit about different types of animals and the places where these animals can be seen. Students will enjoy looking through this book on their own during free reading time as well.

[Hope L. Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is yet another Ehlert book that falls flat of fabulous. The art work is reminiscent of Matisse, which is pleasant and colorful, yet the book does not appeal to me in terms of language. Topic is another issue. Yet another book completely unoriginal about the circus. I would have thought the book could have been more educational if the language was lacking. The artwork is simplistic, but it is not made solely of recognizable shapes, and the colors are blinding against the black backdrop.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Go to the circus and watch the amazing acts.

Well, that was...vibrant. I feel like I should have worn sun glasses to look at this picture book. Ehlert uses a combination of basic geometric shapes to form the creatures and people that appear in the circus acts. It makes it feel kind of psychedelic, especially with the bright, bright colors Ehlert used. Not bad, just dizzying. I did like the flying zucchinis.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although my daughter and I are usually a fan of both Lois Ehlert and brightly colored picture books in general, this one was too much. The pictures were so bright they were hard to look at and sometimes at first glance it was even hard to pick out the animals from the performers. It was alright, but not a favorite.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

August 2016 - Lois Ehlert is hit or miss for me - I always admire what she's doing with shapes and colors and textures, but I don't always particularly like her books. This one doesn't do anything for me aesthetically, but Ben picked it out and keeps choosing it over and over, so it definitely works on its intended audience.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful bright colorful collage presentation of the various things one saw at a circus. Sadly the circus culture has waned into almost non existence.
Lois Ehlert captured the many facets of a circus in this title and her accompanying text brings it all to life all written in the tone of a circus ringmaster.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find some of Lois Ehlert's shape pictures hard for children to look oat but this book is amazing. A variety of children, ncluding ones wh can't sit still, wer'e captivated when I read this for storyhour. It really brings the circus to life!!!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author's illustrations.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corbin loved the illustrations in this book. The colors were so vibrant. Worth a look.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are so amazingly bright that they made me blink a lot. I was perturbed by the fact that the cover is twice the size of the pages inside.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to read when learning about shapes. After reading, children can make their own creatures out of pre-cut shapes.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Colorforms at the circus.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read at After School Story Time on 1/19/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I am a fan of Lois Ehlert's work, I didn't really care for this book. Vibrant pictures keep the attention of children listening to the story. This just isn't one that I'd be reading again.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple story, bold illustrations.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is obvious the entire point of this book is for it's pictures...although it has a significant amount of words...it is an alright book...personally I would have to incorporate a seperate lesson...

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow soon.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with the grade 1s. Got them to pick out the shapes. They also recognized patterns which was super cool.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly quite good! I was worried about spooky clowns.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, cleaver, crafty