The Circus Ship (2009)

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. ( )

This book has so much detail in the illustrations and the rhyme in it grabs the attention of the reader.

I really enjoyed this story it has just enough conflict to keep a young reader interested and the illustrations are vivid, lively and crisp! I couldn't help, but stare at the images. The rhyming text made the book fun to read and requires a lot of expression in order to convey the humor. I like the fact that the story could be an interactive one with animals being hidden throughout the book. ( )

"The Circus Ship" is written by Chris Van Dusen. This book is about a board of circus animals come traveling on a ship until the boat crashes. The animals end up on a tiny island shore where there are people. At first, the people did not fee comfortable around the animals until a baby got stuck in a fire. A tiger came and save the baby. This story corresponds with a tiger lesson for students or maybe just any type of animal. ( )

I love the bright colorful illustrations in this story. Chris Van Dusen does a wonderful job creating backgrounds and the details in each character. The colors are vibrant and really grab your attention. The book is written in a fun rhyme with a silly outcome, and many children are surprised to learn that this book is based on a true event! During read aloud, children also love finding the hidden animals when the circus boss comes back to the island. ( )