Your First Day of Circus School

The playful text of Your First Day of Circus School takes readers through a child’s preparations for, and participation in, a day at school – and an unusual school it appears to be. There is no real story here – just a listing of things to expect in a new situation and how to deal with them.

Eating “a balanced breakfast” seems to involve holding a wobbling pile of dishes and cups twice as high as you are. The school bus “which has an endless number of seats” is an overflowing clown car. And when we read that “The cafeteria can be a real zoo”, we see a busy lunch scene populated not only by children but by a bear, an alligator, and some performing mice, among other animals.

The book finishes with:

I know it’s a lot to JUGGLE on your first day.
And you probably have HIGH expectations.
But you’ll find a way to rise above it all…
and soar through the air with the greatest of ease.

You can surmise what the illustrations accompanying these lines show (several people trying to keep a lot of balls in the air and a tall ladder leading up to a trapeze platform) as the clever word play used throughout has set it all up. The sly juxtaposition of what you would expect to find at a regular school and the circus elements will entertain preschool and primary readers and would make for fine read-aloud to allay ‘first day’ jitters.

Librarians and teachers working with older collections may be forgiven for thinking at first glance that Your First Day of Circus School is one of Ed Emberley’s works (known for Mice on Ice; Thanks, Mom; and his series of books of drawing instruction). The clear colours and crisply outlined figures on lots of white space make all the elements of the narrative stand out. The cover art invites readers into the topsy-turvy world with a combination of real-life school activities: piles of books and a globe; along with images such as a penguin balancing on a ball, a self-satisfied-looking tiger with a ruff, and, on the back, a bear with a backpack leading a small circus parade.

Author Tara Lazar writes and blogs about picture books, and the artist, Melissa Crowton, has also illustrated a series of board books.