The Circus is Coming

[This is a review I wrote in 2008]

**One of her best novels - a Carnegie medal winner!**

I love Circus shoes (or 'The Circus is Coming' as it was originally published). For me, it's on a par with 'Thursday's Child' or 'Ballet Shoes'.

Well-researched, Noel Streatfeild spent several seasons with the circus before writing 'Circus Shoes' and she brings the circus scene vividly to life.

The story is about two orphaned siblings, Peter and Santa who are left homeless when their Aunt dies. To avoid being separated and sent off to different orphanages they run away to try and find an Uncle who used to send a card each Christmas. Their only hope is to find this Uncle Gus, but this isn't so easy as he's part of a circus, so constantly on the show more move.

Peter and Santa have had an extremely sheltered upbringing, and have been brought up to believe themselves superior to other children. They are good natured, however, and soon learn the errors of their ways amongst the hard-working and down-to-earth circus people. The children have never been happier than living amongst Cob's Circus, but can they prove their worth and truly belong amongst the circus crowd?

A wonderful classic. Carnegie Medal winner in 1938, but still just as good today. show less

'The Circus is Coming' (also known as 'Circus Shoes') is the story of Peter and Santa, an orphaned brother and sister who live with their rather strict and snobbish aunt. It's set, I suppose, in the 1930s. When the aunt dies, it looks as though the children may have to be sent to orphanages. So they decide to go and find their uncle Gus, the black sheep of the family. What they hadn't realised is that he's an artiste in a circus.

The book is about Peter and Santa learning to put aside some of their snooty ideas, and become friendly with the circus folk. Some of it seems very old-fashioned, but on the whole it's an enjoyable read. As with so many of Streatfeild's novels, the ending is satisfying, but abrupt.

An orphaned brother and sister run away from the prospect of being sent to separate orphanages and to their uncle, who works as a clown in a circus. They spend their summer traveling with the circus and hoping that they can win their way into their uncle's good graces and so stay with him once the tenting season is over.
Slow moving in places, but still a comfy little read.

Threatened with life in separate orphanages when their aunt dies, Peter and his sister, Santa, run away to search for their mysterious uncle Gus, a circus clown.

In no time at all Peter and Santa are caught up in the whirl of circus life as they travel from town to town with Uncle Gus and the rest of the Cob Circus family. The trained animals are amazing, and the star performers are astonishing. Everyone has a special talent.

This could be Peter and Santa's chance for a life under the big top. What can they do to prove they really belong?

I have always loved Noel Streatfeild's books and as a child I got my library to ILL them for me or hunted through second hand book stores to find all of them. She tells the perfect "girls stories". I was always able to find one character in each book that was my favorite. They definitely stand up to re-reads.

Originally published as The circus is coming (1938)