Addie and the Amazing Acrobats

by Shauna Cagan

Overview

Want an adorable Halloween appropriate picture book that's not scary at all? Addie and the Amazing Acrobats is your book!

Will Addie choose fame or friendship when she gets invited to join the Big Bat Circus? Perfect for fans of Aaron Blabey and Ryan T. Higgins.

Addie was born to be a STAR. Just look at her—she loves attention! “Ehem! Can we please continue?” (Of course!) Addie and her best friends, Ben and Jude, are three peas in a pod. Besties since birth! And together, they learn to perform spellbinding moves in the air (check out the spinzarella and the bonkers bug out!), forming a trio called Addie and the Acrobats! They love the crowds, the cheers, and most of all the attention! One night after a spectacular show, Addie receives an invitation to join the Big Bat Circus. “We’ll start packing right away,” says Addie. But when the friends arrive, suitcases packed, there's only room for the star. Only Addie? Addie loves her friends, but she loves the spotlight, too! Will she have to choose? Shauna Cagan’s delightful debut picture book is a story that both entertains and encourages conversation. Fame or friends? Competition or community? Smart and off-beat with delightful illustrations, readers will fall in love with Addie.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662640469
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	671,286
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Shauna Cagan is a freelance designer and illustrator who also teaches preschool at the Maplewood Outside School. Shauna’s drawings often reflect the many hours she spends outside, immersed in weird and wild places. Shauna lives in Maplewood, NJ with her husband and two feral, mostly bare-chested boys. Addie and the Acrobats is her first picture book.

Editorial Reviews

07/17/2023

A trio of anthropomorphized bats wow wildlife crowds with nightly on-the-wing exhibitions in this high-flying authorial debut from Cagan. And while Addie is the undisputed star (“Her aerial stunts were simply spectacular”), the seemingly resentment-free team declares they are “BEST BEST FRIENDS”—until Addie is invited to be a solo headliner at the Big Bat Circus. Readily leaving pals Ben and Jude behind, she enters a new world of spotlights, glamorous costumes, and a dressing room filled with fan mail and gifts. As time goes on, though, Addie feels that “something was missing,” and worries whether her friends will want her back. Though the wrap-up seems to unnecessarily portray fame and friendship as an either/or, Cagan makes the characters’ journey fun, with meta-interplay between the narrator and protagonist, and crisply outlined cartooning that evokes a lively nocturnal world. Ages 4–8. Agent: Mona Kanin, Great Dog Literary. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A high-flying authorial debut … Cagan makes the characters’ journey fun, with meta-interplay between the narrator and protagonist, and crisply outlined cartooning that evokes a lively nocturnal world.”—Publishers Weekly

"Creative...and the bats’ acrobatics provide inspiration for a colony’s worth of vivid verbs.”—Kirkus Reviews

I can’t think of a CUTER story to read!! What do you do when you’re a part of an amazing acrobatic team (who just happen to be your best BEST friends) that dazzles onlookers every night, but then someone comes along and only wants one of you?? You’ll just have to read this adorable book to find out!!”—@squarepegroundworld

From the Publisher

2023-09-23
Is fame more important than flipping, flitting, and flying with friends?

In a story of friendship that survives separation, Addie, Ben, and Jude are best friend bats, the type of best friends that celebrate their birth, first tooth, and first daytime sleepover together. Together, they form Addie and the Amazing Acrobats. Addie is “the Superstar,” Ben is “the Big Flipper,” and Jude is “the Comet.” Crowds come to watch them every night, but when the representative of the Big Bat Circus visits, Addie learns only she is being asked to join. The dismayed narrator reports that Addie leaves her friends and becomes a featured circus act. At first, life is wonderful, but then Addie realizes something is missing. When the circus visits Addie’s old bridge, she anxiously wonders if Ben and Jude are still her best friends. When she learns they are, the circus train leaves town so the show can go on, just with a different star. Subtle humor is embedded in the digitally created illustrations, often with a backdrop of a dark teal sky. Illustrations of the bat acrobatics are creative, and crowds of bats hanging upside down at performances provide unexpected images. In addition, the bats’ acrobatics provide inspiration for a colony’s worth of vivid verbs.

Anyone who has friends is a true star. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews