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    The Circus Ship
    The Circus Ship
    The Circus Ship
    Audiobook10 minutes

    The Circus Ship

    Written by Chris Van Dusen

    Narrated by Andrew Watts

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Recipient of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, Chris Van Dusen has made a name for himself as an acclaimed author and illustrator. In The Circus Ship, a very special craft is carrying all manner of circus animals. But when it nearly sinks, out spill all the animals. Luckily, they make it to a nearby island. And there they happily settle in-- until the mean old circus owner tries to round them up.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateNov 6, 2009
    ISBN9781440774232
    The Circus Ship
    Author

    Chris Van Dusen

    Chris Van Dusen has created illustrations that have been published in magazines and books and printed on T-shirts and greeting cards. He lives in Maine with his wife, two sons and, naturally a dog.

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    Reviews for The Circus Ship

    4/5

    81 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Miserly circus owner Mr. Paine and fifteen of his most exotic animals are caught up in a shipwreck in this rhyming tale from author/illustrator Chris Van Dusen. Abandoned by their cruel owner, who decides to save himself, the animals make their way ashore on a small Maine island, where their kindness to the human locals soon wins them friends. When the islanders get word that Mr. Paine is headed their way, determined to reclaim his animal performers, they spring in to gear to protect and hide these unexpected new residents...Apparently inspired by a real incident from history, in which a ship carrying a circus sank off the Maine coast in 1836, The Circus Ship pairs an entertaining read-aloud tale in rhyme with brightly-colored, immensely expressive illustrations. I enjoyed pretty much everything about this one, from the story itself to the rhyming text, the eye-catching artwork to the seek-and-find element in the scene in which the villagers hide the animals in plain sight. I know Van Dusen largely through his work on Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson books, although I have read one of his own picture-books - Hattie & Hudson - as well. I'm glad to have now read another, and I thank my boss Tim for giving me a copy. I can certainly understand why it is a family favorite! Recommended to picture-book readers who enjoy animal stories, as well as to fans of Chris Van Dusen's vibrantly colorful artwork.
    • 4/5
      Cute picture book. I know a song about the actual incident that sparked this story (though this is not true to life). The story here is much more cheerful than the real one - the animals make it to shore and make friends. The rhymes are nice; the words are not particularly contorted to make them rhyme. I enjoyed the one spread with all the circus animals hiding in it; the other pages, with various other animals (gulls, crabs) on them are amusing too. The art is somewhat cartoony but sufficiently detailed to make it worth looking at all of it. Enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Absolutely delightful. Cheerful & cheering, except for one dastardly villain. For all ages, on one level or another. And see how many 'hidden' animals your youngest can find by himself....
    • 5/5
      Beautiful, fun illustrations and an uplifting and heart-warming tale. Nice to see a picture book written in rhyme too!
    • 5/5
      Another delightful find by Leeda in our gift collection at work! This is a fun rhyming book about a circus ship that sinks off the coast of Maine, and what happens to the passengers (mostly animals) on board. The illustrations are big and vibrant, and the storyline very sweet.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars

      The illustrations are nice although a little too cartoony for my taste. The story is sweet if a bit daft and the rhyming is done well, not forced. The best part were the pages near the end of the book where you have to look to find where the animals were hidden. A couple were too obvious but some took me a couple of minutes to find. Things like that make books more interactive and therefore more fun and a better learning tool.
    • 1/5
      Although the story is alright, I could not get past the design. I found the slightly-decorative font hard to read, which was made worse by all of the text being centered. The illustrations were a bit over dramatic and hard to look at (I could not figure out why ever person had a red tint to them). I do see how people like the rhyming text and cadence of the story, but the design ruined it for me.
    • 5/5
      What happens when a circus ship crashes in the ocean in the 1800’s? Why, the animals swim to shore of course! Abandoned during the sinking of the ship by their cruel ring master, Mr. Paine, the animals from the ship in Chris Van Dusen’s The Circus Ship swim ashore to a small town in Maine. Of course, the animals are quickly noticed by the townspeople, despite their efforts to fit in. Their reputation is not helped when they are found all over town in strange situations. After all, “…Miss Fannie Feeney found, according to the rumors—the silly little circus monkey swinging in her bloomers.” The animals are effectively shut out by the towns-people, until one day a fire breaks out in a house, trapping little Emma Rose inside. The valiant tiger, which had jumped through many fire rings during his time in the circus, comes to her rescue, thus turning the tide of the town’s attitude toward the circus animals. But Mr. Paine soon comes looking for his animals because there is a show to do in Boston. What the townspeople do to protect their new friends is remarkable and absolutely hilarious.The Circus Ship is filled with witty rhyming prose and vivid, cartoon-like illustrations. Van Dusen makes the animals look loveable, and gives both people and animals wonderful facial expressions. A spread where the animals are hiding provides a wonderful picture searching opportunity. The plot of the story is fast-paced and entertaining. It is also important to note that the story is actually based on real events, which can be read about in the back of the book, though the animals never got as far as the town in the true story. Recommended for grades Pre-K-4.