The Fairy Circus

by Dorothy P. Lathrop

The fairies, enchanted by a human circus which visits their meadow, put on a circus of their own with the woodland creatures.

Genres: Fantasy, Picture Books, Childrens, Juvenile

66 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Dorothy Pulis Lathrop (1891–1980) was an American author and illustrator of children's books.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 1931, and chosen as one of six Newbery Honor Books in 1932 - other titles to be so honored that year include Calico Bush , Boy of the South Seas , Out of the Flame , Jane's Island , and The Truce Of The Wolf And Other Tales Of Old Italy - this short story in the form of a picture-book is rather difficult to come by. The copy I read was in the Special Collections room of my local library, and had to be read on the premises. It is the story of a group of fairies who, finding their meadow overrun by a human circus, are inspired, when the mortals finally leave, to create one of their own. Summoning all the woodland creatures, the fairies throw a circus after their own fashion, with field mice cavorting about as horses, red efts (AKA eastern newts) performing all the tricks of seals, chipmunks (unsuccessfully) masquerading as striped tigers, squirrels (successfully) acting as lions, turtles lumbering about as elephants, and fireflies darting about, providing lighting. The fairies themselves act as clowns, trapeze artists and tight-rope walkers - the latter two groups performing their feats on spider-spun ropes and nets - with the whole extravaganza concluding with the Fairy Queen's procession, and a diving competition. As dawn comes, however, the fairies must depart, and the idyl ends...

The Fairy Circus is simply a beautiful book, from a visual perspective. The orange cloth cover boasts some gorgeous artwork, done in black (like the title), and gold gilt. The book itself is oblong, and the interior illustrations alternate between black and white panels, and color plates, on glossy paper. The black and white illustrations, which look like etchings (or some kind of printing, perhaps? - I wish I knew more about book illustration!), are lovely, with a delicate charm that is very appealing. The color plates are even more delightful, capturing the ethereal beauty of their fairy subjects, and the more earthy charm of their animal playmates. All that said, while Lathrop's artwork is wonderful, her story leaves quite a bit to be desired. In point of fact, there really isn't much story at all, just a series of descriptions of different scenes, strung together. There is no overarching theme, no plot whatsoever, and I suspect that today's young readers would soon grow bored with it. I know I did, despite my appreciation for the artwork! Some of the language is creative, as when Lathrop uses alliteration, in describing a group of turtles as a "company of cumbrous comic collosuses congregated in a complex colomnar climax," but it is also rather convoluted.

All in all, this is a book I would recommend primarily to Newbery completists like myself, or to those who are particularly interested in fairy artwork. For everyone else, it's a bit of a miss.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute idea, but the story is very dated (1932) and probably wouldn't hold the interest of today's kids. It didn't have any great action or plot, and seemed more like a description of a short cartoon belonging on Disney's Fantasia.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been a while since I read it, but I remember thinking that today's young reader would have a difficult time keeping focused. Fortunately the artwork is really stunning--really, illustration was Lathrop's forte.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool pictures. Not much of a story. Lots of alliteration. I’m pretty sure in five years I won’t remember anything about this book. Fluff.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A circus has come to town and hidden among the human spectators are some fairies and woodland animals; when the circus is over and departed, they decide to hold one of their own. Not limited to just 3 rings, the fairies put on many acts; spiders weave nets for trapeze performers and a rope for the high wire act. The woodland animals stand in for the typical circus ones: moles/bears, chipmunks/tigers, red squirrel/lions (they use their tails for manes), turtles/elephants, weasels/camels, wood mice/horses. and efts (salamanders)/seals. The artwork on the color plates is old-fashioned, the colors both soft and rich. There isn't much plot (the fairies hold a circus), and the sentence structure (lots of semi-colons) and vocabulary would be considered difficult today, so I don't think the book would engage many kids...but I found it completely charming, I read this for my 2017 Reading Challenge "read a book with illustrations" (PopSugar); it's a Newbery Honor Book from 1932.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a real circus comes and goes from a field, some fairies decide to have their own circus. They use forest animals as pretend circus animals, and they do tricks.

I'm not very interested in fairies. I liked the drawing of the animals, but the fairies scared me. But this book did come all the way from a library in Connecticut to me here in the Midwest, making it the farthest interlibrary loan I've ever gotten.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine, but it could have been much shorter. As old Newbery Honor books go, it was short. It's the story of fairies who hold a circus with all sorts of woodland creatures after witnessing a human circus.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairies decide to put on their own circus. Squirrels are lions, lizards are seals,...
Hasn't aged well, I think.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

My guess is that this was chosen as a Newberry honor book for its illustrations and word choice (which would have been seen at the time as helpful for building children’s vocabulary).

[Desiree']

1932 Newbery honor book

[Lynette Caulkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read-aloud picture book for younger children. The descriptions are vivid and pull the audience in, and the pictures are delightful. It would not make good solo reading for the age it would appeal to, though. The vocabulary is quite sophisticated, and sentence construction is daunting. However, it provides a good example of mature language use as a read-aloud, and I believe exposure to such material is a good thing. Every so often, though, I was irritated at the use of too many vague pronouns. You probably won't have to worry about that, though, as this is an old book, not in reprint to my knowledge, and difficult to find.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book with a lot of fun pictures. It was mostly just a big game where the forest creatures were play-acting a circus that had recently come to the area. Probably more interesting to children in the early 1930s than it is now since they seemed to be a lot more in to fairies back then than they are now. Still, I liked how clever the author was in choosing which forest animal would play a tiger, a lion, a seal, an elephant, a camel, etc. It was a fun, easy read. However, I do not expect many children to be very fascinated with this book these days, though I could be very wrong.

[Archy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one strange, little book. Some woodland fairies decide to hold a circus one night using the small animals available. Features chipmunks, turtle, newts, mice, etc. Not much plot, but it does have some fun pictures. It is too long to read aloud in one sitting, but doesn't seem like it would have plot to keep you going between sittings. On further reflection, I think there really isn't any plot or character development.

[Jasmine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Illustrations were beautiful (thought of it more as a Caldecott vs Newbery). Story line could work in concept but the writing was entirely descriptive and lacked a true story behind it.

[Christina Packard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining story that I had never heard about when young.

[R. G. Nairam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly sets a descriptive scene and mood, through both text and pictures. I enjoyed the alliteration in the dialogue.

[Monica Fastenau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-r...

[Scott Williams]

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