Grab The Circus Comes To The Village Articulated By Yutaka Kobayashi Accessible In Edition

un libro muy bonito que refleja la realidad de un pueblo que, aunque vive en guerra, hace lo posible por continuar con su vida a pesar de todos los problemas que atraviesan.
Es la primera vez que leo algo sobre Afganistán fuera del contexto de la guerra y me ha encantado,

Reseña completa en: sitelink org/thecircusco 'The Circus Comes to the Village' with words and pictures by Yutaka Kobayashi is a look at a circus in another culture,

Young friends Yamo and Mirado are excited that the circus is coming to his home of Paghman village, His brother and father are off fighting the war, so the circus is a good distraction, but first, he must do his chores, The circus has a wooden ferris wheel and treats like sweet rice pudding and barley cookies, Like the other Yamo's village book I've read, this one ends with an abrubt and sad last page,

I liked this book, The illustrations are really nice, and I think it's good for children to see how other children in the world live and play, Things are different, but still the same, The abrupt ending, like the first book, is rather harsh, even it it is realistic, Readers should decide if further discussion is warranted,

I received a review copy of this ebook from Museyon and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook, im not sure without reading the description I would have known what was going on but interesting book It's a sad, yet happy and hopeful book at the same time and I really loved the illustrations as I felt they enriched the story.

“Autumn has come,
The longawaited circus has come to the village of Paghman in the mountains of Afghanistan, ”

This is another detailed tribute to the lives of the children of Afghanistan who enjoy the same activities that children enjoy all over the world.
They play games and music, and most of all, they look forward to the circus visiting, Yamo was introduced in sitelinkThe Most Beautiful Village in the World, His brother is a soldier in the war, but that isnt mentioned here, This is about fun and games,

Mirado is playing his flute in green, in the back, on the left

And here comes the circus!
“BOOM! BOOM! RATATAT! PAPPAPPAP!
The drums and trumpets of the traveling circus are heard in the fields below.
”

The circus travelling through the countryside

Later we are told the boys can hear the boom of cannons in the distance and that Mirados father has gone to the war but hasnt returned yet.
Unlike the previous book I read in this series, sitelinkThe Most Beautiful Village in the World, we never see anyone carrying guns, and theres no sign of war that I can tell.


At the circus, the boys see all the sights, the strong man, the magician, and a beautiful singer who is singing about her lover who has gone to war.
Mirado plays his flute along with the song and is invited to perform with the musicians!

Mirado playing his flute with the men

He is a success!

Mirado cheered by the crowd

In fact, he is such a success that the circus invites him to join them, and his grandmother says YES!

Yamo and Mirado saying goodbye

Yamo hopes Mirado may see his father somewhere.
Meanwhile, the villagers are excited to finally see snow! That means there may be enough water for good crops,

Villagers celebrating snow!

Immediately following that page is this abrupt ending,

“But that winter, the village was destroyed in the war, The people barely escaped with their lives and moved to other places,
Now no one lives in the village,
However, as spring always follows a harsh winter, the village of Paghman waits quietly for everyones return, ”

I like that this author has captured the lives of these people who just want to live them as we all do.
I dont know how people recover from this kind of devastation, but I certainly hope this little village of Paghman does some day,

I always love illustrations like these, with tiny details and small moments caught in peoples lives, I enjoy reading these with children and making up stories about who the different people might be,

Thanks to NetGalley and Museyon Books for the preview copy, This was originally published inand is now out again, Its been a long war, . . all those children
I don't seem to have much luck with books translated from the Japanese, I don't know if it's a translation issue or a cultural thing or what, But I've found that many of them have disjointed narratives and some don't seem all that suitable for their target audience,

This is a story set in Afghanistan, although without the illustrations and the fact that the setting is mentioned, you wouldn't necessarily know it.
No effort was made to include any words from the local language, and this extends to the main character calling his mother "Mom", It's difficult to pinpoint what time this takes place in, too I'm guessing it's present day or, at the very least, within the lastyears or so given the presence of trucks.


There really isn't a lot of plot, other than the circus coming to town, Yamo and his friend Mirado are those Afghan names They almost sound Japanese to me, . . are excited when they get to go, They ride the rickety wooden rides, look at ice cream which is apparently only to be looked at, not eaten, and watch a show, Mirado plays his flute, gets applause, and decides to leave town with the circus his grandma said it was okay, Snow comes to the village, and everyone is excited because it's good for the crops,

And then the book hits the reader with this weird gutpunch that seems to come out of nowhere, The village is destroyed by war that winter and the survivors abandon it, The village then sits empty as it waits for people to come back,

What the heck does that have to do with anything If the synopsis didn't give all that away, it would've been a terrible shock.
I went into this knowing that the village would be destroyed, but I thought maybe there would be some nuance or sign of hope, And I expected that it would tie in with Yamo's story somehow, But no. The destruction of the village doesn't have anything to do with the circus or the plot of the book, It's almost like the author thought, "Well, I set this thing in Afghanistan, I guess I have to blow something up to show the horrors of war, " But it doesn't work, and it just seems like a cheap trick to add some shock value, It might've been too much for a picture book, but if Yamo had been killed or injured in the destruction of the village, it would've made more sense and tied the whole thing together.
As it is, it seems like this book contains two disjointed narratives: one about the circus coming to town, and one about the war,

So I didn't like this one, The illustrations are nothing special, the writing doesn't evoke a sense of time and place, and the story is disjointed and relies on a shocking twist that barely relates to the rest of the plot.
I've read better children's books set in Afghanistan, Try sitelink The Breadwinner: A Graphic Novel for a better look at a child's experience in the wartorn country,

Thank you to NetGalley and Museyon for providing a digital ARC, This story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, What child doesn't love the circus coming to town In countries all over the world the arrival of the circus is exciting and fun, Yamo and Mirado are best friends that live in Paghman in the mountains of Afghanistan, They can't wait for it to appear,

"Yamo comes home from school as fast as his legs can carry him,
His friend Mirado follows, playing his flute, "

The boys hear the drums and trumpets of the traveling circus coming closer and they want to dash off and witness their arrival.
Yama's mother and grandmother are kneading naan bread and tell the boys that there is work in the fields waiting to be done, They must wait until tomorrow to attend the highly anticipated event, Both friends reluctantly head out to the fields to gather wheat and yams, War is all around them and it's important that the village has food, so gathering the crops has to be a top priority before going to the circus.
Yamo's brother is fighting in the war and also Mirado's father, Mirado is always playing the flute that his father left behind,

Finally after all their hard work is completed the villagers get to participate in the frivolity and for a short while they can play, have fun and escape the hard dangerous realities that are surging all around them.
Yamo and Mirado ogle the sweet rice pudding, barley cookies, honey and chocolate, visit the toy shop, and enjoy the bird shop just to name a few.
Their very favourite thing to experience The swing ride of course!

They spin round and round and go so fast their heads start spinning, They can hardly walk when they get off of the ride! What fun!

It's off to see the acts under the big top next.
These circus artists make everyone roar with laughter! Then the most beautiful singer mesmerizes the audience and Mirado begins to accompany her on his flute.
The singer is so impressed with his musical prowess that she invites him up on stage with her, He blends in with her band perfectly, At the end of the day the tired villagers return to their homes and once again focus on the harsh realities of hard work and survival as the war is still raging on all around them.


Mirado is invited to join the circus group as a musician and his grandmother allows him to go, Hopefully he will find a better life for himself and perhaps find his father, The other villagers are left behind to prepare for another severe winter, The snow arrives and everyone rejoices as snow promises good crops for next year, Very good! Then total devastation occurs, The village is completely destroyed and everyone living there scatters, Paghman no longer exists.

This book is perfect to share feelings, . . feelings of happiness while experiencing the magical world of the circus and feelings of despair and sadness as the village disappears, The illustrations greatly enrich the text, The author wraps up with a sentence of hope, . .

"However, as spring always follows a harsh winter, the village of Paghman waits quietly for everyone's return, "

Book: Return to the Most Beautiful Village in the WorldComing next spring will be wonderful to read!!! I highly recommend this book.
It's good to include a story in your collection that does not have a "happilyeverafter" ending, yet!.