The Clown Said No

K-Gr 3–First appearing in 1961 with illustrations by Gian Casty, this story has been somewhat revised over 60 years and now appears with Kuhlmann’s meticulous, joyful scenes of a mutinous bunch of circus performers on the search to become their most essential artistic selves. It’s a familiar quest, within this story and beyond it, of course. Here, Petronius, billed as the “funniest clown in the world,” simply refuses to perform. Theodore, his donkey, also rebels. The pony, too, who is actually a full-grown horse, chafes at dancing on cue; the giraffe cannot help it that she has a long neck and hates doing tricks. Otto the dog dislikes the bow he wears, and Gustav the lion longs for home. They create their own circus, “For Children and Poets.” The language of this translation is lyrically conversational, ideal for reading aloud, and the circus-in-rebellion idea will lead to noisy story hours.