From Publishers Weekly
This book wows readers with a knockout cover image, a blurry, life-size portrait of an auburn-haired girl. The girl gazes at her audience with confident sky-blue eyes and a Mona Lisa smile; trapeze artists perform in the background. The anticipation builds from there, as an old-fashioned wooden caravan chugs into town. "The next day, our teacher brought a new girl to our classroom," says the boy narrator. "I am sure the teacher told us her name, but we just called her Circus Girl." The newcomer sits next to Tim, the least popular child in the class, and the narrator, in trying to win the girl's favor, becomes Tim's friend, too. The three children play together and enjoy the Big Top before Circus Girl must leave. With a nostalgic feel and a backdrop of winding streets similar to his My First Garden, Bogacki once again divides his spreads into rectangular panels with soft edges and rounded corners juxtaposing scenes of the school, village and tent. His kaleidoscopic, out-of-focus compositions recall Chagall canvases. Circus Girl wears a red-and-yellow outfit that blazes against the gray-green, putty-yellow and clay-brown palette, and enhances her aura of mystery and benevolence. This quiet story of friendship may not emphasize thrilling three-ring excitement, but the pictorial sequences capture the ethereal magic of a carnival, personified in an intriguing stranger. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
reS-Gr 2-Bogacki shares a gentle tale of a young boy's experience when the circus comes to town. The old-world charm generated by the soft images of his painted illustrations permeates this simple story of friendship. When a young member of the visiting troupe attends school, her kindness to one of the students sets an example for the narrator and readers alike. Through a simple gesture, she befriends the shy, quiet boy whom nobody else notices. Following her lead, the narrator befriends him as well, and the two remain friends long after the show leaves town. Circus Girl is not just a nice person with an interesting life; she is truly a larger-than-life character. As in a three-ring circus, several events in this story are happening at once. On one spread, the tent goes up, children watch from behind a fence, Circus Girl is seen outside her caravan, and the circus train can be seen parked on a quiet street. Subdued, hazy colors are the perfect choice for this story set in a small town in times past. This oversized picture book reflects the thrill felt by children when a "caravan of carriages" with C-I-R-C-U-S spelled out on the side came to town, and it is a lovely story about friendship as well.
Piper L. Nyman, Fairfield/Suisun Community Library, Fairfield, CA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
