The Circus Baby

by Maud Petersham, Miska Petersham

The antics of Baby Elephant as his mother tries to teach him to eat with a spoon at the clown family's dining table.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Maud Fuller was the daughter of a Baptist minister, She grew up with three sisters in a parsonage. The family moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Newburg, New York, and finally to Scranton, Pennsylvania. As a child, she loved picture books and to draw. After graduating from Vassar College she studied at the New York School Of Fine And Applied Art. Her first job was in the art department at the International Art Service, an advertising firm, where she met her husband, Miska Petersham.

The Petershams began illustrating books together, at first only for other authors. In 1929 they wrote and illustrated their first book, Miki, about their son. In 1946, the couple received the Caldecott Medal for The Rooster Crows, a book of American songs, rhymes, and games in the tradition of Mother Goose. Often they traveled to foreign lands such as Holland, Greece, Germany, and Palestine to do research for their books. They had a close working relationship with their juvenile editor and were allowed to plan their own books entirely from making the dummy to choosing the format, layout, colors, and type. Their routine consisted of Maud writing the stories and doing the roughs; then Miska would finish, doing the color separations on acetate and all the tedious hand work.

The Petershams wrote and illustrated 60 books for children and illustrated 100 by other authors. When Miska died in 1960, Maud sold the Woodstock, New York, house in which they had lived and worked for forty years and moved to a smaller home in Woodstock. In addition to the 1946 Caldecott Medal for The Rooster Crows, the Petershams also received the 1942 Caldecott Honour Award in 1942 for "An American ABC".

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoy stories about the circus, this one just didn't do much for me. A baby elephant is enamored with a group of circus clowns, the father being Zombie the Clown (yeah, Zombie!). When the clowns are off performing in the big tent, Mother Elephant decides to take the baby into the clown's tent and teach him to eat as the clowns do (why is never explained). Well, it doesn't go well for the elephants and in the end, the mother decides that her baby doesn't need to eat like a human because he is an elephant... Um, okay... My rating - 2/5

[Valerie Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic kids' book- copyright 1950

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet little story, 1950s style.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alissa loves baby elephants.

[Pamela Hatch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently came across this book and remembered it fondly from my childhood and had to buy it. Written in 1950 it is a simple story about a Mother circus elephant wanted her baby to act like the baby clown which ends up in a disaster because elephants are supposed to be elephants and so I guess clowns (or humans) are supposed to act like clowns (i.e. humans).

What drew me to this book again and again and still again today are the brightly illustrated pictures in shades of orange, red, yellow, gray, and black by Maud and Miska Petersham who won the coveted Caldecott Medal in 1947 for THE ROOSTER CROWs.

NOTE: According to the back book jacket they also wrote/illustrated THE BOW WITH RED WHEELS which I had totally forgotten about but remember it vividly again because of the wonderful illustrations. I guess I will have to track down a copy that title as well.

[Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mommy elephant wants her baby elephant to be more human after watching a family of clowns.