The Traveling Circus

February 15, 2015
A Canadian family's vacation in Croatia offers both typical road-trip zaniness and opportunities for deep reflection.When Charlie and Max find (under the kitchen stove) the postcard from Fred inviting the family to visit them on Vrgada, they know they are in for it. Older brother Charlie narrates the high jinks in a voice that is endearingly both knowing and impressionable. He is wise in the ways of his family, but he is also ready to try to understand Croatia. Mixed in with the usual vacation travails (car sickness, border pit stops, keeping tabs on his perpetually hungry little brother, Max) are sights and incidents very specific to their destination. Some are funny-apparently just about all Croatian men are named Slobodan, including family friend Fred-but just as many are poignant. They stop in an abandoned village seeded with land mines during Yugoslavia's brutal civil war; they encounter psychologically maimed war survivors. All of this is related in Charlie's convincing voice-he only half understands it but is deeply moved all the same. These hints of gravity punctuate but do not puncture the holiday fun; readers like Max and Charlie who have grown up in safety will emerge thoughtful but not traumatized. A salutary, unusual look at part of the world rarely seen in North American children's literature, wrapped up in family fun. (Fiction. 7-10)

April 1, 2015

Gr 2-4-Family adventures begun in Travels with My Family (2006) and On the Road Again (2008, both Groundwood) continue for Charlie, younger brother Max, and their parents. This time they are off to Croatia after Charlie discovers an old postcard under the stove. With a dreamy, artistic mother and a slightly spacey father, Charlie and always-hungry Max are free (sometimes unbelievably so at the ages of roughly 12 and six) to engage in zany, episodic encounters with the local environment and personalities. Fascinated by a language with almost no vowels (they head to the island of Krk), Charlie narrates fishing attempts gone wrong, labyrinths with scary hermit "minotaurs" in the center, goats used as traffic control, and war-torn villages. Charlie's voice and humor lighten even the darker moments, and his interaction with, and eventual appreciation of, even the quirkiest characters will guide young readers by example. VERDICT While the picaresque format precludes either a complex plot or any significant character development, this fun romp, with a lovable narrator and enhanced by Gay's charming pencil drawings, is recommended for children graduating from beginning readers to chapter books.-Katherine Koenig, The Ellis School, PA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
Grades 3-5 When Charlie spots Serbo-Croatian for Beginners on the kitchen table, he knows his family will soon hit the road again. After reaching Croatia, they travel from a city to a small island community to a village deserted after wartime troubles. Narrated by Charlie, the wryly amusing story shows that less popular destinations can offer unexpected rewards as well as new ideas to ponder. Gay's cartoonlike, grayscale illustrations enhance the book's appeal. Well-drawn characters and an enjoyable, episodic narrative make the fourth chapter book in the Travels with My Family series well worth reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)