Island readers program takes The Circus Ship to 10 islands

The Burning of the Royal Tar. Courtesy of the Deere Isle-Stonington Historical Society

Mention the 1836 wreck of the Royal Tar to some islanders and you'll hear some very amazing tales. Some will tell you about rumors of an elephant arriving on the beach, or serpents seen slithering on various islands way back when. You might even be told that there are some places where people still won't fish, ever since the Royal Tar's boiler blew and the ship went up in flames, off Vinalhaven.

Why elephants and serpents? That's because on that fateful night when the ship went down, the steamship was carrying a cargo of circus animals. While some people on board ship were rescued, all of the animals were lost at sea.

This month the Royal Tar is a hot topic on 10 of Maine's islands, as the Island Readers & Writers Program brings children's book author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen of Camden, and storyteller Judith Jerome, who is artistic director of the Stonington Opera House, to island classrooms.

Van Dusen will be reading his new book, The Circus Ship (Candlewick Press, $16.99), and talking about how the true story of the tragedy inspired him to imagine a story with another, and much happier ending. In Van Dusen's book, islanders are initially alarmed to see lions and tigers and more in their midst, until the tiger rescues a child from a burning shed.

Jerome will be providing lively programming about the true story of the wreck and about island life during the days of steamship commerce. She has prepared one presentation for younger children and another for older students and community members.

"Several of our islands claim a relationship to that particular historical event," said Jan Coates, founder of the Island Readers & Writer's organization. "That's why we're so excited to use the publication of Chris Van Dusen's book as the occasion to open up discussion not only about the creative process that occurs when a writer creates a story but also about the islanders' own history and legends relative to the Royal Tar."

A former educational administrator, Coates owned Port In A Storm Bookstore in Somesville and Portside Bookshop in Bernard. Both of those stores are now closed, but their "mission of building communities of readers" continues in the Island Readers & Writers Program, Coates said.

And "communities" is the key word here. In fact, it takes more than the students and teachers to make this island-hopping celebration of books and reading a success. Not only will island schools, libraries, and historical societies contribute materials and some presentations to enriching this program, but some islanders will be hosting the visitors in their homes overnight. Some communities will also hold potluck suppers and other events when the visitors are in their midst.

Coates said the focus on the story of the Royal Tar will not be confined to the days when Van Dusen and Jerome are on each island. She has worked with teachers to help students prepare for the visits in a variety of ways. In some cases, children will be working to create their own endings for the story of the Royal Tar. Many students will be producing and exhibiting artwork inspired by the story. And one group of students will be writing and singing a song about the ship.

All of this is an outgrowth of a program Coates started four years ago when she brought author Toni Buzzeo to Mt. Desert Island, Swan's Island, and Frenchboro. In ensuing years, 14 writers and illustrators have participated in the island visits. This year the program is more ambitious than ever with Van Dusen and Jerome visiting 10 islands.

Van Dusen said he is both honored and excited to be chosen to visit island children this year. "One of the things I'm going to stress is that it's OK to take a true story and change it around to make a new story from it. We will talk about the true story and about what the circus was like in the 1830s. I want to show kids that history can be amazing-and this is their own history, too!"

Told with humor and in rhyme, The Circus Ship is illustrated with Van Dusen's trademark whimsy. But those who know something about real life on the islands in the 1830s will also note that Van Dusen worked hard to capture in his illustrations accurate details of architecture, fashion, and even the shape of clothespins that would have been used in 1836. Even his choice of circus animals reflects those that were commonly in circuses at that time. He eschewed adding clowns or acrobats because this would not have been historically accurate.

"The Circus Ship is the ideal book to bring excitement about reading and island history into the classroom and the community," Coates said. "I'm just thrilled to know that this book will open up the experience to the community in a greater way than we have done in the past."

The Island Readers & Writers tour will travel to the following islands: North Haven on October 5; Vinalhaven on October 6; Isle au Haut on October 7; Deer Isle and Stonington on October 8; Frenchboro on October 9; Mt. Desert Island on October 10; Swan's Island on October 13; Islesford on October 14; Islesboro on October 15; and Matinicus on October 16.

By Sally Lodge -- Publishers Weekly, 10/15/2009 12:25:00 PM

In Chris Van Dusen's world, the long neck of the giraffe makes a perfect flag pole, the lump of the camel's back looks something like a haystack, and the black-and-white stripes of the zebra blend in perfectly with a picket fence.

It's a world of make-believe, but Van Dusen's latest children's book, "The Circus Ship," is not too far off script from reality.

Massachusetts-based Candlewick Press releases "The Circus Ship" on Tuesday. Van Dusen writes and illustrates children's book at his home in Camden.

"The Circus Ship" tells the story of the steamship Royal Star, which crashes on a ledge in thick fog off the Maine coast and sends its passengers and freight into the drink. Among those displaced by the wreck are 15 circus animals en route to Boston.

"The shattered ship began to tip, then sank without a sound. The splashing, thrashing animals swam round and round and round," writes Van Dusen.

The circus boss, the greedy Mr. Paine, leaves the animals to their own peril and instructs the ship's captain to commandeer the only lifeboat for his personal safety.

But the animals persevere. They band together during a long cold night and swim ashore to the nearest island. The next morning, the island dwellers find an ostrich in the outhouse, a tiger in the tulips and a lion on the lawn.

It's a crazy story, but based on a real event. In the mid-1800s, a side-wheel steamer known as the Royal Tar went up in flames off the coast of Maine. On board were more than 100 people and a complete complement of circus animals. Most of the animals died, but there were reports that suggested a few survived by swimming to nearby islands.

Van Dusen begins promoting the book with a reading and signing Saturday in Camden. In October, he will travel to 10 Maine islands to talk about island life, steamships, circuses and Maine's coastal history.

Organized by Island Readers & Writers, the island tour also will include storyteller Judith Jerome. She and Van Dusen will weave the facts of the actual sinking with the fiction of Van Dusen's colorful imagination.

Van Dusen is best known for his series of children's books about a fictional character named Mr. Magee. We spoke with him by phone last week.

Q: Tell us about the inspiration for "The Circus Ship."

A: I was really inspired when I read an article in Down East magazine about 20 years ago, a short two-page article about the wreck of Royal Tar in 1836. I was struck by a graphic in the article. It was an old period engraving of a ship on fire. In the foreground, an elephant is swimming by in the water.

I read the article, and sure enough, it told the story about a ship that sank off Vinalhaven, and it was carrying circus animals. They all ended up in Penobscot Bay. I wasn't writing books at the time; I was doing editorial illustrations. But I never forgot that story. And years ago, when I started writing and illustrating children's books, the idea popped back out.

Q: You are both illustrator and author. Which comes first? The story or the art?

A: It sometimes can happen either way. For this book, I read the story in Down East. But usually, I start a book by pacing out the pages. Most children's picture books are 32 pages long, because they print them on a giant sheet that holds eight pages. When I presented my initial dummy, I met with my editor and art director, and they thought it needed a few more pages. So we went up to 40 pages.

I have to figure out what happens on each page, so the story builds and climaxes and then resolves. Once I figure out if everything is going to fit and the pace of the story is correct, then I write the words and story. The final illustrations are the last things that I do.

Q: Are these drawings or paintings?

A: All my illustrations are painted in a paint called gouache. I tell kids it rhymes with squash. It's a water-based paint, sort of like an opaque watercolor. You can use it very thin to cover a large area, or you can use it with a little water and build it up in a very small area. I use it because it reproduces so well. If you saw the originals for this book, you would see they reproduce really well. But it's all paint. There's no computer involved.

Q: The colors are incredible. They remind me of Dahlov Ipcar paintings.

A: That's a compliment, thank you.

Q: Speaking of, who are your mentors in the field?

A: Well, when I was growing up, I was drawn to two, primarily: Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey. I loved Seuss' writing and the fact that he would sometimes make up a word to match a rhyme. It was so easy to read. I loved McCloskey more for the illustrations. But I love his stories too. They're so deceptively simple. They blew me away as a kid, and they still do today.

Q: Why do you think Maine has such a rich tradition in illustration?

A: I think the setting is spectacular. I think people are drawn to the coast, and the mountains and the forests. The visual aspect is appealing, and there is a rich traditional for illustration – N.C. Wyeth in Port Clyde, McCloskey up in Deer Isle. It may be for the same reason, that rich visual history. It's just a beautiful place to work.

Q: How long have you lived in Maine?

A: I moved to Maine in 1985. I was born in Portland at Maine Med in 1960, and lived over in Raymond until I was 4 or 5. We moved to Massachusetts, and I grew up in a small town in central Mass, and then moved to Camden in '85 and have been here since.

Q: Was this a fun book to do, given the location and where you live?

A: This was a lot of fun. But it took forever. It was the book that I thought would never end. I worked on this thing for years. Each illustration – well, some illustrations – took forever to produce. One took up to a month just to paint. I really like this book. I am happy with how it turned out. I like the story. I like the fact that it was based on a true story. I liked doing historical research for this book.

Q: What are you working on now? What is your next project?

A: I am actually working on a book now, jumping back to my first character, Mr. Magee. It's a new adventure with Mr. Magee. The last Mr. Magee book came out in 2003. I was wondering whether the publisher would still be interested. They liked the story, so this will be out next fall or early winter.

9/20/09 Press Herald Maine Today, http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=284101&ac=Audience

10/30/08 Bar Harbor Times Village Soup, mdi.villagesoup.com

10/16/08 & 05/22/08 Mount Desert Islander, www.mdislander.com