I was doing mostly editorial work and my illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun, and Disney Adventures. “For more than ten years I worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. Eventually I started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born. First I was a waiter, and then I was offered a part-time job at a magazine for teenagers.

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. “After high school, I studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982. I had no idea back then that I’d end up writing and illustrating children’s books when I grew up. Seuss’ words and I was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were my heroes. My specialty was aliens, robots, and monsters. Another would draw animals so realistic you’d swear they were breathing. One of my brothers would sketch intricate war scenes. We didn’t have video games or computers to entertain us, so we drew instead. As a child, my brothers and I would spend hours drawing pictures.

I've never heard anything but praise from my patrons about The Circus Ship.Chris Van Dusen writes: “I was born in Portland, Maine, on St. I've heard time and again from other librarians, both public and school, that this book is loved by children and many feel it is destined to become a children's classic. I don't agree with the review stating this book comes on too strong or is frightening to children. Rollicking rhyme makes this a fun book to read and to hear and the illustrations are bold, colorful and detailed, with charming Victorian-era characters. Paine is the villain of the story, his appearance in caricature and his bumbling Keystone Cop type behavior makes him non-threatening to children. The children love looking for the animals and pointing them out. In an ingenious interactive picture, the animals are hiding in plain sight from Mr. The islanders help the animals elude the circus owner, aptly named Mr. The circus owner, who initially abandoned the animals in the shipwreck, wants them back to work for him and visits the island to find them. They swim to an island and soon become friends with the inhabitants. This is a heartwarming tale of fifteen circus animals who are shipwrecked off the coast of Maine. This is a book that children want to hear over and over again! I am a library director in a small town and a grandmother of ten who is very discerning about what I read to children.

The circus ship by chris van dusen