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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Sparkle Pernice | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
When a little girl plays dress up in her leotard and socks she becomes 'Circus Girl', star of the show. Even her toys morph into her dreamscape of circus acts. At each page turn she jumps and tumbles, flies through the air, juggles, spins, balances and contorts. Vibrant and winsome, modern and timeless, the illustrations and words convey a captured childhood moment with directness and simplicity.
Author Notes
Clare Pernice was born and raised in England, where her passion for children's books took root.nbsp;She was influenced by her imaginative, story-telling father and inspired by renowned local author, Roald Dahl who visited her school.nbsp;Her childhood love for stories prompted her to write her own, creating both characters and illustrations at a young age. With an avid interest in children's books, art and design, Clare attended and graduated from London's Central Saint Martin's School of Art.nbsp; She has designed and illustrated in Paris, San Francisco, Japan, Los Angeles, Charleston and New York.
Her designs extend beyond book illustrations to include children's clothing, toys, murals and hand typography for which she earned an Addy Award.nbsp; Clare has also created costumes and props for both stage and film. One garnered a "Best Costumes" Academy Award for her work on "Cyrano de Bergerac".
Clare has since returned to writing and illustrating children's books in a studio filled with words, doodles, paper and paint.nbsp; Her picture books are inspired by her own childhood and raising her two creative children.nbsp; She is a culture enthusiast enjoying books and blogs, art and music, travel and people, theatre and cinema.nbsp; Clare is an active member of the Children's Book Illustrator's Group and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.nbsp; She spends her creative time between Manhattan and the woods of Weston, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband, their two children and miniature dachshund Milo.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Imagination transforms a child's small bedroom with the aid of a leotard, socks, and a canopy over the bed, as its occupant balances, flies, twists, and turns through a series of acts replicating those seen in a circus extravaganza. Each page represents various performances, waiting for the applause of the youngster's fascinated dolls and stuffed animals. She twists on ropes and rings, zooms through the air on a trapeze, balances objects stacked to the page edge, rides standing aloft on a galloping horse, and glides gracefully across a rope in the air. Surrounded by helpful clowns, an elephant, and a friendly, large-jawed lion, the text includes a series of adjectives describing the young artiste. She's "daring," "dazzling," "dramatic," "outrageous," "plucky," "bold," with an emphasis on words in distinctively decorative circus and block fonts. Simply drawn, water-washed scenes contrasted by white present "Circus Girl-Star of the Show" in this easy introduction to the circus and tribute to the power of imagination. Perfect for youngsters who dream of their own three-ringed events.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A child transforms her bedroom into the big top.The book opens with a couple of introductory views of an ordinary room featuring a bed, "a leotard / socks / and a girl." Following this, a whirl of sheets opens the show. Changing in tandem, the narrative's initial, hair-fine typeface turns to big, florid circus-poster type as the performance begins. Illustrations drawn in simple outlines of orange crayon burgeon into colorful scenes of awe-inspiring leaps, swoops and circus acrobatics on a trapeze or atop an elephant, a lion and other stuffed animals that have become real. Having thoroughly demonstrated that she's "daring and /dazzling / and Oh! so / dramatic," the young performer finally snuggles down for the night, secure in the knowledge that she is "star / of the show." Thinly applied colors and broad areas of white space give Pernice's pictures and the imaginary playscape they depict a diaphanous look that may seem washed-out to some viewersand, to others, appropriately dreamlike.A flight of fancy, verbally and visually spare, that any would-be "star" will gladly take. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.