Grandpa Ephraim is endearing, both as an old man and a young boy.Ĭircus Mirandus is the kind of story one revisits again and again-a classic to be enjoyed by all ages. Skeptical Jenny and hopeful Micah are perfectly balanced as past and present intersect, bringing about the Lightbender’s miracle in unforeseen ways. The author’s graceful storytelling weaves the narrative thread back and forth, giving plausibility to other realms and other dimensions, where illusions can be as true as you want them to be. Despite meddling by Great-Aunt-Gertrudis, the magic world of Circus Mirandus opens up for Micah and his friend, Jenny, a friend as pragmatic as Micah is trustful.

He entrusts his message to Micah and a chatty parrot named Chintzy. Grandpa Ephraim sends the Lightbender a message saying he needs the miracle now. But somehow, the inside of the black tent was much more spacious than its outside. “The crowd seemed larger than it had before, and he worried that they might not all fit. (Tying and untying knots was-and is-a Tuttle talent.) Impressed, the Lightbender promised Ephraim a miracle, a miracle Ephraim decided to save for the future. Enraptured by the Lightbender’s illusions, Ephraim showed him a magic trick of his own, a special knot.

To go back in time: Grandpa Ephraim was mysteriously called to the circus when he was ten, longing for his father to come home from the war. Micah is all but banished from Ephraim’s room. Hearing these stories revisited makes her furious. Now Grandpa Ephraim is ill, and Great-Aunt Gertrudis has come to take care of him. No tale is as wondrous as the one about The Man Who Bends Light and his ability to make dreams reality. Ten-year-old Micah Tuttle has always been entranced by Grandpa Ephraim’s tales of Circus Mirandus, a magic circus where the improbable is possible. What to Expect: An intriguing adventure that opens up the world of magic, miracles, and the possibility of other dimensions. Elizabeth Varadan | The Children’s Book Review | JanuCircus Mirandus

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley