The Traveling Circus (Travels with My Family, 4) - Hardcover

Gay, Marie-Louise; Homel, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554984203 ISBN 13: 9781554984206

Publisher: Groundwood Books, 2015

Synopsis

Charlie and his family are about to embark on another trip, to another out-of-the-way place off the beaten path. This time they are heading to an island in Croatia — an incredibly beautiful country that lives in the shadow of war and conflict. Even for a seasoned traveler like Charlie, Croatia is a very different experience: the language is unfamiliar and half the words have no vowels, goats are a traffic-calming device, and red cliffs loom like fortresses over an impossibly blue sea. Still, Charlie and his little brother, Max, manage to find adventure wherever they go. There’s cliff diving, pigs on spits, hair-raising ferry crossings and snake juice for breakfast. There’s a sober side to their adventures this time, too, as Charlie finds out that this area of the world has a long and troubled history. But he also discovers that you don’t need to speak the same language to communicate with people. Not when you’re having a party in a field, surrounded by goats and dancing in the glow of car headlights with the radio blaring out Croatian music. A warm, funny and thought-provoking book that celebrates a child’s love of adventure and boundless curiosity about the world.

About this title

About the Author

Marie-Louise Gay is a world-renowned author and illustrator of children’s books. She has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and has two Governor General’s awards to her credit. She is best known for her Stella and Sam books, which have been published in more than fifteen languages.

David Homel is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, journalist and translator. He is a two-time winner of the Governor General’s Award for translation, and the author of ten novels, including The Speaking Cure (winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize and the Jewish Public Library Award for fiction) and, most recently, The Fledglings.

From School Library Journal

Gr 2–4—Family adventures begun in Travels with My Family (2006) and On the Road Again (2008, both Groundwood) continue for Charlie, younger brother Max, and their parents. This time they are off to Croatia after Charlie discovers an old postcard under the stove. With a dreamy, artistic mother and a slightly spacey father, Charlie and always-hungry Max are free (sometimes unbelievably so at the ages of roughly 12 and six) to engage in zany, episodic encounters with the local environment and personalities. Fascinated by a language with almost no vowels (they head to the island of Krk), Charlie narrates fishing attempts gone wrong, labyrinths with scary hermit "minotaurs" in the center, goats used as traffic control, and war-torn villages. Charlie's voice and humor lighten even the darker moments, and his interaction with, and eventual appreciation of, even the quirkiest characters will guide young readers by example. VERDICT While the picaresque format precludes either a complex plot or any significant character development, this fun romp, with a lovable narrator and enhanced by Gay's charming pencil drawings, is recommended for children graduating from beginning readers to chapter books.—Katherine Koenig, The Ellis School, PA

About this edition

• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1554984203
• ISBN 13: 9781554984206
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144