Tree Ring Circus [Hardcover]

Adam Rex (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years

In a quiet little lea, several miles out of town, a tree grows. It becomes home to sparrows, chipmunks, a whopping big bee . . . a runaway clown? Two poodles? An ape? Wait a minute. . . .
In his quirky but realistic style, Rex creates the greatest show on earth--or at least, in a tree. The surprising text is part word game, part counting game, and part mystery. The illustrations are pure, beautiful mayhem, loaded with boisterous energy and cunning little critters that readers will love to chase through the pages.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3–This zany, rhyming, cumulative tale is carefully designed, humorously detailed, and appropriately silly. It starts and ends with a tree and features a colorful array of first woodland, and then escaped circus creatures that take up residence in its branches. A new font, including hand-lettering, announces each new arrival. Paintings created in oils and mixed media portray a jumble of animals cavorting across the pages, testing viewers' memory and visual skills. Budding artists and sophisticated fans of search-and-find books.–Debbie Stewart Hoskins, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI
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About the Author

ADAM REX is the author and illustrator of PSSST!, TREE RING CIRCUS, FRANKENSTEIN TAKES THE CAKE, and The New York Times bestseller FRANKENSTEIN MAKES A SANDWICH. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
www.adamrex.com

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1St Edition edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152053638
• ISBN-13: 978-0152053635
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.4 x 11.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He now lives in Tucson with his physicist wife Marie.
His picture book FRANKENSTEIN MAKES A SANDWICH, a collection of stories about monsters and their problems, was a New York Times Bestseller. 2007 saw the release of his first novel, THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY.
Garlic and crosses are useless against Adam. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a hit! June 6, 2006

By Armchair Interviews

Format:Hardcover

What do you get when you mix a seed in the ground three miles out of town with nature, a runaway clown named Pogo, and thirty-three animals? Tree Ring Circus!

Lyrical and melodious with a splash of whimsy, Adam Rex artfully intensifies the action as one seed grows into a tree full of circus animals...until the elephant shows up. The illustrations are masterful and fun and they incorporate the text flawlessly--yet maintain the circus feel. Not only do the readers see the action corresponding to the text, they also get frames of what happens between the pages, adding dimension to the story.

This is a delightful read-aloud that will be accompanied with exclamations of, "Read it again, Mommy!" And Mommy will want to.

Armchair Interviews says: Tree Ring Circus is smash hit and an instant classic.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful illustrations for a playful rhyming story June 15, 2007

By John F. Sampson, Jr.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We discovered Adam Rex after seeing his illustrations in "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich," a book of amusing rhymes about familiar but disarming movie monsters (and their moster children) in compromising everyday situations. The illustrations of that book were half the fun, and so it is with "Tree-Ring Circus." The story is simple -- a few small animals assemble in a tree; a runaway clown joined by his animal cohorts from the circus, surreptitiously set free, climb up as well until an elephant climbs to the top bringing everything down. No deep meanings or lessons here, just silly fun, and the story moves quickly. Counting the animals in the tree as they're referenced in the story adds to the giggles.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "A tree in the ground several miles out of town- seems innocent enough." November 26, 2006

By Luan Gaines HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

It all begins innocently enough, "a seed in the ground, two rain clouds, then three... surprisingly there appears a fast-growing tree". A series of rhymes builds to an improbable event, where the fast-growing tree is home to a few strays: a cat, three chipmunks, two sparrows, a bee, five mice and a raven. But when a traveling circus stops nearby, clever apes unlock the cage, releasing a bevy of animals onto the limbs of the tree, among them: one lion, three squirrels, a clown, a bear, an ostrich and an elephant. The empty circus wagons rumble away down the hill, while the circus animals clamor up the branches of the tree, the elephant perched on top of this unusual balancing act. Of course, it is impossible!

The poor tree collapses under the weight of too many creatures: "Thirty-three animals, counting the clown, get up off the ground, without making a sound." Where once grew a tree, tall and strong, nothing remains but a few twigs, trampled grass and the footprints of animals who fell back to earth. This imaginative and lively children's book is cleverly wrought, the illustrations also done by Adam Rex. Enchanting and whimsical, elaborate and colorful, the drawings are the backbone of this humorous tale, just as the tree gives shape to the nonsense rhymes. Any child will enjoy this laugh-out-loud fantasy journey again and again. Luan Gaines/2006.