Review: Claude at the Circus by Alex T. Smith

 

Claude and Sir Bobblysock's adventures continue in the second title in this adorable series. When Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes leave for the day, our two heroes take a walk in the park. They get caught up among a group of joggers, have an ice cream, and take a nap in the flowerbed. But when a woman calls for help, they find themselves rescuing a runaway baby buggy with the baby still inside! After their daring success, they are invited by The Amazing Alan to come see his circus. When the performers struggle with their acts, Claude and Sir Bobblysock must save the show.

~From Amazon~

As I sit down to write this review, my two dogs, Skipper and Luna, are creating a circus of their own.  Actually, it's a bit like Wrestlemania in here, but them creating a circus in my living room sounds a little nicer....

Anyway, what can I say about dapper little Claude and his stoic sidekick, Sir Bobblysock (who up until I read the description, I called "Sir Bobbysock"!) ?  As a character, I love that Claude is polite and well spoken (for a dog), but also has an adventurous side.  And Sir Bobblysock makes a good foil for Claude's adventurous nature.  

The book itself is a quick little read.  It looks like a big bad chapter book, but the chapters are quite short and there isn't a lot of words on each page, so it really isn't scary at all.  Some of the wording used is British (as is the author), so you may have to explain what being "told off" is.  I do like that when the word "beret" is first introduced, it is labeled in the accompanying picture.  That way children who don't understand the word can see what it looks like, and while they may pronounce it as "bear-et", they at least know that whatever it is, it is a hat.

I plan on taking my copy to school with me and adding it to my "dog book" bin, for my students to read to Luna when she comes to visit at school.  (If you'd like to donate to my Donors Choose project to help buy more dog books for my classroom, please click here...I'm only $182 away from being fully funded!)

I'd like to thank Peachtree Publishers for sending me a copy of CLAUDE AT THE CIRCUS for review.  

For my review of CLAUDE IN THE CITY (book 1 in the series), please click here

Make sure you stop by the other blogs on the CLAUDE AT THE CIRCUS tour:

Monday

There's a Book (www.theresabook.com)

Blue Owl Reviews

(www.blueowlreviews.blogspot.com)

 

Tuesday

A Word's Worth

(http://awordsworth.blogspot.com)

Maestra Amanda's Bookshelf

(http://maestra-amanda.blogspot.com)

 

Wednesday

Gidget's Bookworms

(http://gidgetsbookworms.wordpress.com)

 

Thursday

Kid Lit Reviews

(www.kid-lit-reviews.com)

 

Friday

Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

(http://insatiablereaders.blogspot.com)

Boys and Literacy

(www.boystobooks.blogspot.com) 

 

You can visit the author on twitter: @Alex_T_Smith

and Claude's very own blog, claudebooks.blogspot.com