Gotta Be Me! Fearless Mirabelle and Meg by Katie Haworth

Mirabelle and Meg Moffat are twins, and they look just the same.

But they are very different.

As soon as she could crawl, Mirabelle proved to be physically gifted--no surprise, since her parents were noted acrobats with the circus! She had perfect balance and agility and was soon climbing everything, from furniture to trees. She was a natural.

Meanwhile, Meg just made a whole lot of NOISE.

GAA GAA! GOO-GOO!

Her parents were proud of their daring daughter--Mirabelle.

Meanwhile, Meg was busy being a high communicator. She asked questions and talked about everything, from broccoli (She hated it) to books (She loved them!)

When the twins are old enough, Mother and Daddy Moffatt took the girls to work with them. Of course, their work was in the center ring of the circus, on the high wire and the trapeze. Mirabelle took right to the family business readily.

She did a backflip and cartwheeled across a tightrope seventeen times.

Meg is too terrified even to climb the ladder up to the trapeze.

Meg was afraid of heights!

And Meg fails at juggling and hits all the wrong notes at tuba-playing. What can she do?

Meanwhile Mirabelle is fast becoming a celebrity! But one day when Mirabelle is beset by a bunch of reporters, sticking microphones in her face and spouting rapid-fire questions at her. Mirabelle is not fearless--she's speechless and terrified. Suddenly, she hears a firm and fearless voice beside her, fielding all the press's questions with eloquence. It's her twin, Meg, doing what, for her, comes naturally!

It's a case of different strokes for different folks, in Katie Haworth's Fearless Mirabelle and Meg (Templar Books, 2019), a tale of twin sisters who look alike but are endowed with different but equally amazing abilities. Haworth's lively narrative points out that, while some talents emerge early and spectacularly, some are less obvious but just as necessary. Artist Nila Aye uses the big spaces on these big pages to portray the spectacle under the Big Top in lively line drawings that tell the story visually, in a salute to individuality and a plug for verbal skills.

You Can't Believe Everything You Read! If You Ever Want to Bring A Circus to the Library, DON'T! by Elise Parsley

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AT THE LIBRARY!

You can't believe everything you read, even a sign at the library.

But Magnolia is a girl with a thing for BIG IDEAS, and when she sees that summer reading festival sign, she suddenly sees herself as a circus impressario. Get ready, laddies and lassies, all you little library patrons. Cue the circus march! It's ...

MAGNOLIA'S CIRCUS--THE GREATEST SHOW YOU'VE NEVER SEEN!

Magnolia mounts the high wire for a twirl and a leap... and a fall....

The crowd gasps, but our Maggie bounces up, and with a wave of her hand, announces firmly...

You can do anything in the library--except CLAP!

Send in the CLOWNS! Magnolia takes a pie in the face with elan! But she shushes her audience.

You can do anything in the library--except CLAP and CHEER!

Some other traditional circus activities run into conflict with the library staff. Concessions, for example. The crowd is rowdy and especially messy with the popcorn and peanuts.

Magnolia tries to wow the crowd into silence with her piece de resistance--the human cannonball act!

The crowd waits, hushed, as the countdown continues: 5-4-3-2-1-??

Just so you know, if your cannon is a dud, you'll hear...

BOOOOOO!

By now, Magnolia's circus crowd is out of control. She quickly looks around for something to distract them before they riot!  She's pretty sure you can do anything in the library except clap, cheer, and RIOT!

She spots a booktruck nearby, loaded for shelving, and grabs a likely-looking book and...

Magnolia starts to read aloud.

The rapt kids are seemingly enchanted. Suspense builds as the three goats gruff, one by one, trip-trap across the bridge. Magnolia has the kids in the palm of her hand-- until there is a sudden misfire of her cannon....

BOOOOOMBA!

A misfiring cannon can make a mess of your neighborhood library, in Elise Parsley's latest in her Magnolia Says Don't series, If You Ever Want to Bring a Circus to the Library, Don't! (Little, Brown and Company, 2017).  Don't believe everything you read is Magnolia's new mantra, as she carefully crafts a new library poster--YOU CAN READ A NICE, QUIET BOOK IN THE LIBRARY.

Elise Parsley's third tall tale of what NOT to do takes advantage of her penchant for conceiving a character capable of instantly concocting capricious and absurd adventures, as she did in her top-selling If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! and If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't! (see reviews here). Magnolia is a girl who apparently always learns the hard way, and Parsley's wild digital illustrations and near disasters scenes are kid-pleasing slapstick action and visual jokes. This one will be popular for Library Week readalouds.

Have Tent, Will Perform! Peppa Pig and the Backyard Circus

IT'S A SUNNY DAY AND PEPPA AND FRIENDS ARE VISITING GRANDPA AND GRANDMA PIG.

"BANG, BANG!" GRANDPA IS USING HIS HAMMER!

Of course, Peppa Pig has to know what's going on out back.

"IT'S A CIRCUS TENT!"

How? What? Who? Peppa has to know!

Grandma Pig points out that it's not really a circus tent. It seems she's having a garden party!

But the performer in Peppa Pig can't let a perfectly good tent be wasted on a sedate garden party, where grownups with teacups stand around and make polite conversation. This tent has more promising potential!

"LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!

PEPPA'S CIRCUS!!"

Never one to let the garden grass grow under her feet, Grandma Pig pulls out her Dress-Up Box. Danny Dog volunteers to be the strong man; Emily Elephant jumps in to claim the role of juggler; and Pedro Pony takes on the job of clown. Rebecca Rabbit wants to be the makeup artist! Even little brother George recruits a trio of daring tricyclists.

Everyone piles on the Dress-Up Box and pulls out a costume, leaving Peppa with nothing but an unclaimed, slightly squashed, tall hat. Peppa moans that there's nothing left for her to be.

"YOU CAN BE THE RINGMASTER!" GRANDMA SUGGESTS.

"THE BOSS!" SAYS GRANDPA.

That's an inspired bit of perfect casting for the party of the season, in the latest Peppa spinoff, Peppa Pig and the Backyard Circus (Candlewick Entertainment, 2017). Life is filled with endless possibilities for the ebullient Peppa Pig, the current diva of preschool telly programming, and her energetic family pitch in to make for a lively impromptu circus performance which delights the tea-party guests as well. It's always a sunny day in Peppa-ville, and Peppa, the life of the party, is always up for family fun.