The Show Must Go On!

written by Kate Klise
illustrated by M. Sarah Klise

Ages: 6-8 years (approximately grades 1-4)

Kate Klise (author of the 43Old Cemetery Road & Regardingthe Fountain series) has done it again with a delightful new series targeted for a younger audience. The Show Must Go On! is the first of The Three-Ring Rascals, a fun-filled series for readers transitioning into chapter books. 

Sir Sidney’s Traveling Circus is the world’s best, but Sir Stanley, a “prince of a man,” needs a rest.  Who could replace him? After all, “no one treats animals better than Sir Sidney does.”  Leo the lion gets his mane brushed with only the finest Italian brushes, Elsa the elephant eats only specially grown peanuts from a farm in Georgia, and only the Famous Flying Banana Brothers can train on their custom made bunks beds.  So when Barnabas Bramble, the certified lion tamer is temporally hired for a week, things turn grim!  Bramble’s idea for running a circus has everything to do with profit and short-cuts rather than the well-being of the circus animals.  It soon becomes apparent that the lion tamer is a fraud and the circus is spiraling out of control under his management.  Fortunately, the circus folk stick together, Sir Sidney returns, and Mr. Bramble gets a second chance.  Sir Sidney says to Barnabas Bramble, ”I also know that underneath it all there was a good man.”  Whimsical illustrations throughout by M. Sarah Klise, the author’s sister, enrich this well-written, humorous chapter book. The show will go on. Watch for the Three-RingRascals: Book 2 – The Greatest Star On Earth in May of 2014. 

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