Roarr: Calder's Circus

by Maira Kalman, Donatella Brun (Illustrator)

The Calder Circus comes roaring into town to razzle dazzle those of all ages.

Genres: Art, Childrens

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1991

About the author

Maira Kalman was born in Tel Aviv and moved to New York with her family at the age of four. She has worked as a designer, author, illustrator and artist for more than thirty years without formal training. Her work is a narrative journal of her life and all its absurdities. She has written and illustrated twelve children's books including Ooh-la-la- Max in Love, What Pete Ate, and Swami on Rye. She often illustrates for The New Yorker magazine, and is well known for her collaboration with Rick Meyerowitz on the NewYorkistan cover in 2001. Recent projects include The Elements of Style (illustrated), and a monthly on-line column entitled Principles of Uncertainty for The New York Times.

She lives in New York and walks a lot.

(http://www.saulgallery.com)

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, ROARR Calder’s circus flips, turns, rollicks and all together worms its way into our hearts. The story is set at a circus with the main character watching the action being described by the long-winded ringmaster Monsoieur Loyal.
The book is unique in that the text sometimes turns, flips, grows, and shrinks much like a real circus while maintaining the action of the figurines. This provides a fun challenge for any reader.
The illustrations are unique in that they are photographs of the character sculptures from sculptor/artist Alexander Calder’s famous circus. These movable sculptures were created using wire and other scraps of materials found around his workshop. He would take this circus to friends houses and delight them with a full show and musical accompaniment. The photographs are skillfully woven into a story which keeps you on your toes from start to finish.
The book originally was written originally for the Whitney Museum in the 1990’s to accompany the exhibit and entice children to frolic, dance, cartwheel, somersault, and flip into the enchanting tale.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was (and still am) OBSESSED with this book. Calder's circus is one lovingly constructed hot giggle and is ensconced at the Whitney. I only saw parts of it when we visited because it was being cleaned and tidied. What a wonder- so many people see only the tattered bits, but the ideas behind it and the execution of the wrapped wires capture the circus perfectly. If you get a chance to see the short films online showing Calder playing with it - well, they are well worth the search. This book captures the fun and I ended up buying tons of them to give as Christmas presents. I even wiggled wire into characters for the top of the package when I wrapped them. I am sure, to this day, that some of my staid friends probably "talked among themselves" about my sanity, but this book captures what I think makes us all grow old too quickly. Every once in a while it is a good reminder to play and laugh. Creativity is the best antidote to constipation and age.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore near every bit of Maira Kalman's writing & her illustrations are fabulous for audiences both adults and smaller. And telling enough, I named my son after Alexander Calder.. . . and somehow, sadly I did not love this book.

Mostly, it's the oft handled cloth and wood sculptures made(1926-31) that do not photograph well. Watching Calder perform his circus through the magic of You Tube is much more moving and entirely possible!

Or there's Sandy's Circus that captures some of the magic of the sculptures through painting.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was recommended to me by a colleague who had attempted to read it during a storytime. That was a disaster, but it is definitely a fun book with a lot of charm. Reading it by yourself or with one child it's great. The note regarding the history of the wire models that are photographed makes it even more interesting.

[clare o'c · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Maira Kalman. I love this book because she made a book about Calder and about sculpture and I think it works pretty well. My kids don't don't love it as much as I do, but the art teacher does!

[Lannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

F--k the haters. I was actually the target demographic when I tore through this book again and again as an early adolescent, and it was amazing.

Leave it to adults to ruin a perfectly magical children's book.

[Masked · Rating 5 out of 5]

maira kalman puts photos of calder's wire and fabric circus sculptures on a page and tells you their secrets as a story. wow.

[Yifat]

Also film: Calder's Little Circus 1961
I heart "Ben Hur" and "Men Persuading Elephant"

[Rida · Rating 1 out of 5]

LAME!

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's really unusual that I wouldn't enjoy a Maira Kalman book, but it's not her typical book and I think it's really very dated in how it presents Alexander Calder's Circus. I think if Maira Kalman were to do a book about it now, she would illustrate it herself. Or maybe take the photos a little differently. Or letter the text herself. The pages were all black and the objects in the circus are so dark, I couldn't wrap my head around how fun and energetic all the figured are. It took watching videos of the circus in action to really help be grasp how TOTALLY AMAZING the Cirque Calder is.