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Hello ~

I am trying to find a book from my youth (1960's) that was about a child (a boy I think) who goes to The Circus and see's all the acts. I don't believe it was an Alphabet book, although I could be wrong. I wonder if it might be 'CIRCUS TIME' or something along those lines? The child see's the Fat Lady and other characters - but the one I am certain of is the Tall Man named 'TALL TOM'. It could be a Golden/Little Golden Book, but I am not sure. If anyone has any information about an illustrated children's Circus book from the 50's and 60's with a character in it called:'TALL TOM' please contact me at: CircusBook@yahoo.com

Thank you very much. Big Grin

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Without looking at my collection which is packed away, I believe that this book is Little Peewee. There is a fat lady and a tall man or he may be the thin man, in it, as well as Little Peewee who looks like a minute dalmation but then grows into a giant dog. Otherwise it might be Circus time but in this book its a little girl that is taken to the circus by her father.

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[QUOTE BY= mazzie] Without looking at my collection which is packed away, I believe that this book is Little Peewee. There is a fat lady and a tall man or he may be the thin man, in it, as well as Little Peewee who looks like a minute dalmation but then grows into a giant dog. Otherwise it might be Circus time but in this book its a little girl that is taken to the circus by her father.[/QUOTE]
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Big Grin Hi Mazzie and thanks for the reply. I know there wasn't a dog in the story named Peewee, and the 'Circus Time' I am referring to is with a boy who goes to the Circus, not a girl. I found this description on the net:
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"What is the first book you remember reading? I just found out its title because I did an interview with Leonard Marcus for a book he's doing about Golden Books. It was a book called "Circus Time," and it was a wonderful story about a father who takes his son to the circus and they have a wonderful time. I wanted to be in those pictures. The skies were wonderful. When I told Leonard that, he said, "Oh. Tibor Gergely." His trademark was his beautiful skies".
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Recently I found a few copies of Golden Books 'Circus Time' for $ale on Ebay. I sent each seller several emails asking them if there were a character in the book called 'Tall Tom' and finally one of them responded and said "No". It's interesting to note that there are at least 2 'Circus Times' put out by Golden Books. One in 1948 and one in 1955 -> which was 'A Little Golden Activity Book'; and had a spinning wheel on the front cover. I believe this is the book I am looking for - 'Circus Time' - 1955. I checked and can't be sure which version Tibor Gergely illustrated, but I believe it might've been the 1948 version. I see from the cover, the illustrations are different from the 1955 version (and not what I remember) yet the story is most likely the same - 'a father takes his son to the Circus'.

And now I wonder if we just called the Tall Man, "Tall Tom"...maybe he was just "the Tall man" in the book. But one thing I know is there is a Midget either on his lap or standing next to him - emphasizing his height.

If anyone knows of a children's Circus book from the mid 1950's/early 60's like I describe above, with that Tall Man character and a midget either on his lap or at his side - please contact me at: CircusBook@yahoo.com

Thankyou very much. Smile

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I just had a nice visit with Leonard in New York on Tuesday.
Circus Time is about a girl named, Molly who is taken buy her father to the circus. There is a picture of the Tall Man in cowboy clothes standing next to a female little person. The Activity book has the same inside artwork as the other edition but with 24 pages compared to 42.


Steve Santi
Author ofCollecting Little Golden Books & Warman's Children's Books
Collecting Little Golden Books and similiar Children's Books

   
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