“Scurry, feet! Find a seat. Spotlights glow, let’s start the . . . Show!

Circus and trains . . . two things that kids love. Put them together and you’ve got a great book. The rhyming, rhythmic poem and pictures captivated my younger son and me tonight as we read it several times. What a treat to share this book with you now as TODAY is the DEBUT OF CIRCUS TRAIN! Can’t wait to share this book with my Pre-School Reading Club on Friday too! All Aboard . . .

Introducing Our Featured Friend:  Circus Train
by Jennifer Cole Judd, Illustrated by Melanie Matthews

Listen for the rhyme, rhythm and word choice in this poetic picture book:

Circus Train spills
over the hills.
Along the road
crews unload.
Workers zoom.
Tents bloom.
Clowns paint faces,
straighten laces.
Day grows warm.
Long lines form.

The circus starts and the fun begins . . . elephants, flags, trapeze artists, tigers, horses, and best of all, pink cotton candy! Can’t forget the clowns with cream-pie-faces, tightrope walkers and cannon fires. And at the end,

A floor of roses,
circus closes.
Crews load cars
beneath the stars.
Train lights glow.
Time to go.
Circus train spills
over the hills.

Jennifer Cole Judd captures the events, emotions, and excitement of a day at the circus from sun up to sun down. Lovely poem. Bright pictures. Entertained readers.

Encore! Encore!

Inviting You To Become FRIENDS with Circus Train
Select from the questions and activities below . . .

Feel, Relate, Imagine, Explore, Navigate, Develop, Share

F- When do you feel when you think of the circus?

R- What part of the poem can you most relate to from your experience at the circus?
(My son’s answer is the cotton candy!)

I- Imagine you can have any part in the circus pictured in this poem. What would you want to do? Be shot from a canon? Walk a tightrope? Dress up like a clown?
(My son’s answer is to eat the cotton candy!)

E- Explore circus crafts: Print, color and cut this miniature circus set. Then put the pieces in sequential order while reading the poem again:  http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/People/papercircustent/papercircustent.html

N- Navigate your way through the rhythm of the poem by clapping out the syllables. Note how each couplet has the same number of beats in both lines. Mark of a good poem!
I.e.. “Circus train spills, over the hills.” (4 beats, 4 beats)

D– Develop a rhyming word list for each couplet. For example, write “spills and hills” and have the kids develop more rhymes: bills, chills, thrills, windowsills. Older kids could add their own original couplet to fit into the poem.

S- Share a taste of the circus by giving pink cotton candy to your kiddos as you read Circus Train! (Dollar Store sells individually wrapped packs.)

Come Join in the Fun with Jennifer Cole Judd:

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