Big Top

Author: Rob Harrell
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 1449440762
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Book Description
"Harrell's work combines pop culture, innocence, friendship, and some of the seamier side of the circus background that only adults can appreciate." Come one! Come all . . . to the exciting world of Big Top! Rob Harrell's three-ring comic strip has already packed the house with fans eager for his hilarious take on the circus and those who bring it to life. The circus and its colorful cast—led by 10-year-old Pete and his happily reformed performing bear, Wink—are a perfect metaphor for life. It's not always what happens on the surface, Big Top reminds us, but what takes place backstage that delivers the lessons and the humor. Pete and Wink keep plenty of odd company, including Kingston, coolest king of the jungle; Stucco, a mute clown who still manages to make his point; Manfred, the bookish monkey; Dusty, the wisecracking tell-it-like-it-is trained poodle; Andrea, the new acrobat girl who's caught Pete's eye; and Hairy Mary the Bearded Lady, a mother figure to them all. Take this crew on the road and you get an endless array of situations and relationships, care and impatience, honesty and intolerance. It's like one big Big Top family . . . one that welcomes all readers for the mere price of a ticket.

Battle for the Big Top

Author: Les Standiford
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1541762266
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
“Les Standiford takes us under the big top and behind the curtain in this richly researched and thoroughly engaging narrative that captures all of the entrepreneurial intrigue and spirit of the American circus.” —Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times–bestselling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings—James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling—all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus. Ultimately, the rivalry of these three men resulted in the creation of an institution that would surpass all intentions and, for 147 years, hold a nation spellbound. Filled with details of their ever-evolving showmanship, business acumen, and personal magnetism, this Ragtime-like narrative will delight and enchant circus-lovers and anyone fascinated by the American experience.

Big Top Burning

Author: Laura A. Woollett
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1613731175
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Book Description
International Literacy Association Award Winner for Intermediate Nonfiction 2016 Eureka Children's Book Honor 2016 On July 6, 1944, thousands of fans made their way to Barbour Street in Hartford, Connecticut, to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance. Not long after the show's start, a fire broke out and spread rapidly as panicked circus-goers pushed and scrambled to escape. Within 10 minutes the entire big top had burned to the ground, and 167 people never went home. Big Top Burning recounts the true story of one of the worst fire disasters in US history. It follows the tragic stories of the Cook family—including children Donald, Eleanor, and Edward, who were in the audience that day—and 15-year-old Robert Segee, a circus employee with an incendiary past. Drawing on primary sources and interviews with survivors, author Laura Woollett guides readers through several decades of investigations and asks, Wasthe unidentified body of a little girl nicknamed"Little Miss 1565" Eleanor Cook?Was the fire itself an act of arson—anddid Robert Segee set it? Young readers are invited to evaluate the evidence and draw their own conclusions. Combining a gripping disaster story, an ongoing detective and forensics saga, and vivid details about life in World War II–era America, Big Top Burning is sure to intrigue any history or real-life mystery fan.

Big Top Pee-wee

Author: Paul Reubens
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780590422062
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

Book Description

Big Top Otto

Author: Bill Slavin
Publisher: Kids Can Press Ltd
ISBN: 1554538076
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 92

Book Description
Otto and Crackers continue to search for Georgie. A lead takes them on a road trip of small town USA.

Elephant Story

Author: Les Harding
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476655383
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Book Description
The newspapers called him "Overshadowing Monarch Mastodon," "Behemoth of Holy Writ" and "Prodigious Mountain." He was the main event at the greatest show on earth: Jumbo, at around 6-1/2 tons and almost 12 feet tall, the biggest elephant anyone had ever seen. Jumbo's mere presence in the Barnum, Bailey and Hutchinson circus guaranteed an additional $3,000 a day in box office receipts. More of an exhibit than a performer, Jumbo was simply paraded around the three rings. But still the people came, just to marvel at the size of this monster pachyderm. This work traces Jumbo's capture in East Africa, his life in the London Zoo, the controversy over his sale for $10,000 to American showman P.T. Barnum, his journey across the Atlantic, his life as the most famous attraction in Barnum's circus, and his tragic death in a railway accident in Canada in 1885.

Trouble Under the Big Top

Author: Jürgen Banscherus
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 9781598893380
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Book Description
When Circus Zampano comes to town and strange things start happening during the juggling act, Klooz is hired to investigate.

The Big Top Circus Mystery

Author: Karen Kaufman Orloff
Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
ISBN: 9781441312273
Category : Circus
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Introducing our new Nightlight Detective books for junior detectives everywhere! Young readers use the punch-out paper "flashlight" to illuminate clues hidden in the art on plastic see-through pages. Clever stories and appealing art make Sergeant Sally's adventures irresistible! Frankie the Clown's giant shoes are missing, but the show must go on. Junior detectives help Sergeant Sally solve the mystery at the Big Top! Slip the Nightlight Detective paper flashlight under each plastic page to light up the clues as the story unfolds. Ready? Let's crack the case! Ages 4 to 9. Includes 8 acetate pages of see-through art.

The Circus Age

Author: Janet M. Davis
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807861499
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Book Description
A century ago, daily life ground to a halt when the circus rolled into town. Across America, banks closed, schools canceled classes, farmers left their fields, and factories shut down so that everyone could go to the show. In this entertaining and provocative book, Janet Davis links the flowering of the early-twentieth-century American railroad circus to such broader historical developments as the rise of big business, the breakdown of separate spheres for men and women, and the genesis of the United States' overseas empire. In the process, she casts the circus as a powerful force in consolidating the nation's identity as a modern industrial society and world power. Davis explores the multiple "shows" that took place under the big top, from scripted performances to exhibitions of laborers assembling and tearing down tents to impromptu spectacles of audiences brawling, acrobats falling, and animals rampaging. Turning Victorian notions of gender, race, and nationhood topsy-turvy, the circus brought its vision of a rapidly changing world to spectators--rural as well as urban--across the nation. Even today, Davis contends, the influence of the circus continues to resonate in popular representations of gender, race, and the wider world.

Phineas and Ferb: Big-Top Bonanza

Author: N. B. Grace
Publisher: Disney Electronic Content
ISBN: 1423141644
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 95

Book Description
Phineas and Ferb always enjoy a good show. So when they hear that Cirque du Lune is coming to town, they can't wait to see it. When the show is cancelled, Phineas and Ferb decide to put on their very own circus. With Phineas as the ringmaster, and acts like mud-diving and hoop-jumping, soon they're bringing the house down. Even Perry the Platypus is getting into the action! But when Candace tries to prove her brothers aren't just clowning around, will the show go on?