Extraordinary Jane
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
For anyone with a beloved pet, this delightful and heartwarming story set at the circus shows that quiet qualities like friendship, kindness, and loyalty are important and worthy.
Jane is an ordinary dog in an extraordinary circus. She isn't strong, graceful, or brave like her family. When she tries to be those things, Jane just doesn't feel like herself, but she also doesn't feel special. Is she really meant for this kind of life? Her Ringmaster thinks so, but not for the reasons Jane believes.
Ordinary can be extraordinary!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Jane was ordinary, in a world that was extraordinary," opens Harrison's picture book about a shaggy, dewy-eyed white dog. It's no understatement: tiny Jane is shown in the corner of a three-ring circus while monkeys play brass, a beret-wearing elephant paints a portrait, and a bear rides a bicycle across a tightrope. Jane doesn't even stack up within her own family. "She wasn't graceful like her mother," Harrison writes, as the elder dog stands ballerina-perfect atop a galloping horse while wearing a frilly pink dress and crown of roses. She isn't "mighty like her father," either he can lift an elephant, but a bucket labeled "elephant poop" is all Jane can manage. This is an exceptionally polished first book. Harrison's acrylic paintings, which blend realistic animal portraits with a charmingly old-fashioned circus setting to very funny effect, are the star of the show, but her understated storytelling and pacing are equally on the mark. Jane's under-the-radar helpfulness and all-around sweetness confirm the story's closing sentiment that being "a really good dog" is something extraordinary in itself. Ages 3 5.
