Circus Mirandus is the story of fifth grader Micah Tuttle, who lives with his grandfather, Ephraim. For years, Ephraim has told Micah stories of the magical elusive Circus Mirandus. Stories about a beautiful flying bird woman, an invisible tiger who guards the gates, and a man who bends light and who owes Micah's grandfather a miracle. Now Ephraim is gravely ill, and Micah believes that finding the circus is his only hope of saving his grandfather.
To prepare for Ms. Beasley's visit to our school, all of our fourth and fifth graders read Circus Mirandus. I purchased two class sets of the book with Scholastic dollars raised at our last book fair.
Our teachers decorated each of the halls in our school as one of the book's settings (the circus entrance, the Amazonian Bird Woman's tent, the Lightbender's tent, Mr. Head's Menagerie, and Micah's tree house).
We also set up a circus-themed photo booth that doubled as a backdrop for the morning news. This was very popular during Reading Night!
In Circus Mirandus, Micah and Ephraim have a magical talent for tying knots. So several of my classes researched how to tie knots and we displayed their work in the media center.
During her presentations, Ms. Beasley talked about living on a pecan farm in south Georgia, what her days as a full-time writer are like, and the importance of editing her writing. She also had kids participate in an activity that taught them how to be specific with their writing. I loved the question and answer part best. Since all of our students had read Circus Mirandus, their questions were very thoughtful. Our students were mesmerized by Ms. Beasley's presentation. They loved Circus Mirandus and were amazed that the author was actually at our school!
"Because it was a ridiculous, amazing thing to do, and once in a while, it's good to be ridiculous and amazing."
-Circus Mirandus
