Fleischman, Paul. SIDEWALK CIRCUS. Illus. Paul Hawkes. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2004.
This book is about a circus. There’s a sign that says the circus is coming soon. A girl sits on the buss stop bench and watches what is taking place on the side walk. Although the sign says the circus is coming, it seems to the girl that a circus is already here. The window washers are the trapeze swingers. A couple of kids on skate boards are the clowns. A close look at the shadows will tell you what circus performer is on the page. The posters also describe the circus feats being performed by ordinary people on the sidewalk. I liked how the man putting up the posters is the ringleader of the sidewalk circus. After the girl leaves a boy takes his position on the bench and begins to watch the show. Although this was a picture book I think the words in the signs and posters add a lot to the story. The illustrations were packed with information. Even though there are no words you can tell exactly what the little girl was thinking by the expressions on her face. One has to look closely at the book to gain a full appreciation for this book. The more I look at it the more I like it.
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Christian: I wholly agree with your final statement: it's a book worth looking at again and again.
Also, I think you need to document your bus-literacy experiences b/c you might one day want to write a paper on the subject, or a book even. You never know, you might want to keep riding the bus with your school's kids when you're a full fledged teacher to do something great about reading with kids in this way.
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