Claude at the Circus

Gr 1–3—Fastidious, fashionable Claude, "A small, plump dog who wears a beret and a rather fetching sweater," and his pal Sir Bobblysock treat themselves to a day at the park. When the pair attempts to be good citizens by filling in the many holes and picking up balls that litter "a funny sort of field," angry golfers chase them with raised clubs. Claude picks up a "Wet Paint" sign—"another piece of trash he found stuck to a bench." He then takes a ride on a scooter, which enables him to rescue a baby whose buggy has run downhill toward a pond. Because of this feat, the two receive free tickets to the circus. They arrive early, and "give the tent a jolly good spring clean," unwittingly sabotaging the performers' equipment and ruining the show. But the pup entertains the crowd by juggling white balls, riding in the clown cars, and flying on the trapeze with Sir Bobblysock. The friends are rewarded by getting sent home via cannon blast. When his owners return, they wonder "why Claude is wearing a glittery crash helmet…and why there's a Claude-shaped hole in the roof?" The digital black-and-white cartoon illustrations with touches of pink let readers know more about the dog's world than what the text describes. A map of the park provides the opportunity to visually trace Claude's day, and three silly jokes are appended in a "How to be a Clown" page. There is lots of fetching humor for transitional chapter book readers.—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI