The illustrations here are compelling, but the story is not one for readers uncomfortable with wordplay. Children are transported into the head of a Noise-a- matron, a nonsense machine of many noises. The lack of a clear story will confuse some, but others, with a quirky sense of humour, will be captivated by the interplay of language and images - such as, ''Tubswort toiling on the doo-dad machine, that stamps the niggly foibles.'' It's good fun but perhaps irritating for those who do not enjoy an ornate wordy style. Children looking for a story rather than a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes, will need to look elsewhere.

- Canberra Times, September 2005

A response to the finished product of all this manic creativity: For me, the reviewer, the poem, picture book aside, was quite 'adult' in the way it explored the mind of a child who was seemingly marginalised. ( 'tantrumming child' is a bit simplistic - there's more happening here). The poem was definitely escapist, but escaping from 'what' - hints of something darker shadow the telling literally! The 'parent' presence/adult presence is threatening - their shadows are knife sharp in contrast to the curls of childish imagination and machinations evinced by the child's 'dreamworld' playmates - their limbs reach into all the recesses of her mind and pull out survival tactics woven into play. You could use this book to talk about stranger danger and abuse --- it would make an unthreatening platform to start counselling victims. The child, central to the story, is a survivor and her survival has a lot to say about our use of words and their symbolism.

The illustrations ( 'European' in style and influence) both confirm and elaborate the sense of play with a purpose - the growth through the story - from 'Noise-a-matron' (escapist doodle play) to 'Circus
Carnivore' (escapist still, but creativity with edge - the child is now
a force to be reckoned with in her own right). They also say much about the loss of a sense of 'play', of the 'child in us' by modern adults - the end of 'innocence' and the increase of the generation gap, not so much by distance, but by forcing children to be adult, way before they should be ready for this transition! The sharp adult shadows (the accusatory 'Dullundrears') intrude and condemn the childishness of the child.

This is poem play/ story drawing that has you thinking, with a sly tip of the hat to Lewis Carroll's 'Jabberwocky!'!

- J.R. Poulter, Ride Home (unpublished), 2005

Film director Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocohite Factory, Big Fish) says 'In the art world, you don't have to explain what you're doing'. And, why on earth should you? The rider is my observation incidentally, please don't attribute it to Mr Burton, though I'm sure he would share the sentiments. This credo certainly applies to Circus Carnivor(e) a magnificent, crazy experience masquerading as a picture book. With text by Mark Svendsen and illustrations by Ben Redlich, Circus Carnivor(e) , like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (which the inner child in me absolutely loved, while my outer shell drooled over johnny Depp and the chocolates in that order), will transport you to a magical world of fantasy and delight.

You cannot mundanely just read this book, but rather greedily devour it with lip smacking gusto. Then, you go back for more, this time, like finest Belgian chocolate, savouring the experience in small, exquisite bites.

Svendsen skilfully plays with the language, inventing a number of nonsense words and phrases which sit beautifully with the lush, imaginative illustrations. The curtain goes up on the 'Noise-a-matron' as we're introduced to the beings who operate it. For example:

'Noolman there works the liffin bools,
for screeching out the groigles,
While Tubswort toils on the doodad machine,
That stamps the niggly foibles.'

Each page is a visual feast and  conversely, with each re-read becomes more clearer and non-sensical. You'll have to grab a copy to understand that flawed logic! Also, I don't think you can
define Circus Carnivor(e) as appealing to any one age group. I like to think of it as a picture book  big and little people to be equally enjoyed by all.

I'll leave the final words to the two creators: Ben Redlich lives in a place in his head where very odd notions are thought, seen and said. Mark Svendsen, the same, except slightly worse, because all his mad thoughts he turns into verse.

Circus Camivor(e), published by Lothian Books, is available at all good bookstores.

- Adele Moy, Fellowship of Australian Writers (Qld), February 2006

This is a complex book that delivers more with each examination. The style of illustration bears a strong resemblance to that of Shaun Tan and the words are reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. Yet, on examination, the ideas are new and the words are a celebration of language. This is a great poem to read aloud or perform. The words burble along, expressing humour and imagination. The illustrations enrich and expand the words and older children will love
scrutinising them to discover the fine details. Highly recommended.

- Primary Focus Nonfiction 2006 (?)

This illustrated poem delivers a dramatic explanation of the machinations of a young child's mind. Fascinating names and invented language are reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. This will challenge students' strategies for making meaning of texts and raise discussion about varied interpretations. Supports Level 4 and 5 of the English syllabus.

The child invites the reader to 'Come with me, in my head, to see how it goes...' revealing a mind driven by a rich cast of characters who are apparently responsible for directing moods. The initial tantrum, courtesy of the 'noise-a-matron', is soon put to a stop by the 'dullundrears' (parents). A change in mood is reflected in the text presentation. Text boxes become ribbons that flow across the page heralding a new, fun frame of mind rich in the imagery of the circus. The characters take on names that aptly reflect their antics. The elaborate artwork also invites revisits, with intricately designed contraptions and theatrical characters testimony to the illustrator's fertile imagination. Highly Recommended.

- Library Services, 2006

This has a very 'Nightmare Before Christmas' look to it - and I mean that in a good way. It's nonsensical to a certain degree and described as "a jabberwocky journey from noise-some to joy-some in this phantasmagoric circus of a book." Kate sounds like a little bit of a monster and should be a blast to read out loud. (And gorgeous to look at!!).

- Colleen Mondor, ChasingRay.com, 8th June, 2006

Circus Carnivore is a picture book which tells the story in rhyming poetry. The words are unusual and it has very quirky illustrations. This is a great book to read out loud to a group because you can use lots of expression.

This is a good book for those with a wild imagination. However, it was a bit over the top for me. I would recommend this book for readers aged 10+. 7/10.

- Sam Fitzmaurice, Gisborne Montessori School (VIC), 2006

Overproduced to the point of semi-legibility, this Australian import folds mannered verses laced
with nonsense words into hyper-complicated paint/collage scenes featuring weirdly distorted figures and zillions of clipped-out words and phrases in English and German. Fulminating against the parental ³Dullundrears² who tell her to pipe down, Katie introduces readers to Tubswort, Niddy-no-not, Noolman and others who run the ³noise-a-matron² in her head‹and who, being laid off by their ³drooblish² foreman, ³his voice most ultra-gloomal,² assume new identities as performers in the titular, intracranial circus. Fans of jabberwockish rhymes might stay the course, but most readers will get lost.

- Kirkus Reviews, August 2006

A riotous, eccentric picture book with elaborate crowded illustrations and a textual narrative that, as well as incorporating many invented words, runs from conventional blocks to an often bewildering variety of fonts and placement. A girl is noisy, inventive and rebellious. She claims her words come from a machine, a Noise-a-matron, operated by a strange lot of workers under threat from the Dullundrears (adults): 'Those Dullundrears/they work that way/They say I can't enjoy my play/The pax me up and they frows me away/'Cause I'm having fun being roodle!'.

An explosion of words in extravagant fonts, of machines full of cogs and flues and bizarre characters who not only operate the machines but seem to be part of them: this is the Noise-a-matron that lives in the head of a wayward child and spouts out "noxious words" whenever she's feeling "pernickety". When her parents, those Dullundrears, forbid her tantrums the whole caboodle has to find other employment, so they turn into the Circus Carnivore and disport themselves in a range of exotic and amazing acts. Svendsen's nonsense verse is loud and swashbuckling. Redlich's extraordinary illustrations borrow backgrounds from old sepia newspapers and posters in heritage colours.

- From The Adelaide Advertiser (2/7/05) by Katharine England

With the Noise-a-matron closed down, now out of work, Noodle, Noolman and their fellows (the girl's thoughts) raise up from their sorrows and start a circus.
A link is made between the girl's suppression by her elders and the workers summarily dismissed from their jobs. The posters, costumes and language, particularly of be-whiskered Dunderflub remind of stage melodrama and pantomime.

It is an extraordinary creation whose appeal grows with careful re-reading.

- The Source

Circus Carnivore is an extraordinary picture book on many counts. It is a
tour de force of the imagination; indeed, it is a celebration of
imagination. But more than that, it absolutely confirms the respective
talents of its creators.

Mark Svendsen has long indulged a love of language in his playful, whimsical
verse. Here, his inventiveness soars to new heights as he creates a
delightfully novel and euphonious narrative to relate the fantastic workings
of a child¹s imagination in the tradition of Dr Suess, Lewis Carroll or
Edward Lear.

His bizarre lexicon at first appears intimidating in print but, read aloud
with verve, the euphony of the verse and the peculiar logic of the fantasy
lay to rest any doubts about the appeal of the book to the sub-teen
audiences.

Nevertheless, anyone who picks up the book will immediately have become
captivated by Ben Redlich¹s illustration. Redlich made a distinguished debut
as a picture book illustrator with The Great Montefiasco (Colin Thompson,
2004). He works in traditional multi-media with a great depth of pictorial
detail that invites readers to read beyond the primary narrative, to linger
over the pictures, interpreting what they will from the rich tapestry of
images. His work has a technical skill, style and implicit profundity of
theme and depiction.

Right from the explosive pictorial mayhem of the title page, the reader
senses a story unlike any other. A child speaks directly to the reader,
wanting to share a secret. Them Dullundrears (parents) say I'm cranky and
pernickity... and I¹ve noxious words coming out of my head. She proceeds to
take the reader into her head to the source of the perceived problem‹a
Noise-a-matron, a machine operated by a small bunch of weird, endearing
individuals. The child reluctantly closes the great fangled contraption
down, casting its operators into unemployment. In beautifully extravagant
language, they arrive at a solution‹they create new circus identities and
harness their unique talents to form the Circus Carnivore where they teeters
and trips and acts up more, with tricks and stunts and laughs galore.

An entertaining nonsense or a take on child mischief? Either way a very
entertaining picture book.

-Kevin Steinberger
Magpies
Volume 20, 2005

Exquisite illustrations overflowing with kooky humour make this picture book
stand out in the crowd. Bellingen-based children's author Colin Thompson
tells the tragic tale of the worst magician in the history of magic.

The Great Montefiasco dreams of dazzling his audiences with brilliant feats
of prestidigitation. But he's always stuffing up. Even the simple card
tricks.

Audiences love that about him. His shows sell out and the crowds laugh and
cheer. But as each on-stage disaster brings more laughs and more applause,
The Great Montefiasco becomes more miserable.

When he advertises for a magician's assistant, the Fabulous Betty applies
for the job. The Great Montefiasco's life changes forever ‹ but not how
you'd expect.

Brisbane-based Ben Redlich crafts a wonderfully surreal impression of our
tragic hero at work and at home. His lavish illustrations have an eccentric
cartoon style and there is a rich vein of oddball humour in the tiny
details.

- from The Newcastle Herald (21/2/04)

For the kids. Magician the Great Montefiasco lives up to his name,
surrounded by tricks which are dismal failures: they fall apart so
absolutely that his audience fall around laughing. Enter timid magician's
assistant Betty in an attempt to make things run smoothly. A look at
self-confidences and making the best of a bad situation combined with
gorgeous, detailed, surreal illustrations Dali would envy. For four years
and up.

In a word: magical

- from the Herald Sun (Melbourne) (7/2/04) by Shaunagh O'Conner

The Great Montefiasco is the worst magician in the history of magic. No
matter how hard he practices, his tricks always go terribly wrong. Just as
he is about to pick out the secret card someone had chosen, he'll cough and
50 secret cards will fall out of his coat sleeves, followed by two scruffy
pigeons.

While this makes the audiences laugh uproariously, it simply makes the Great
Montefiasco sad. He feels like a failure, and a lonely one at that. But his
fortunes change when the theatre manager suggests he gets an assistant. She
arrives in the form of Betty, the timid young lady from the paper shop where
he places an advertisement.

Now, while the Great Montefiasco finds love and companionship, he doesn't
get any better at his tricks. In fact, together, he and Betty are simply
disastrous. However, the audiences lap it up and they become wildly
successful, learning at last that all their mistakes and accidents bring
much more happiness to the world than any ordinary magic trick ever could.

If Colin Thompson has a trademark in his writing style it surely must be his
great warmth and compassion. Delightfully poignant and humorous, this is a
most engaging story. It's accompanied by exquisite illustrations from
Redlich, full of tiny details and great fun (nice to see Tassie in a few of
the pics, too). It's worth noting though, that small children may not like
the gallows humour in the illustrations.

However, they are pretty well hidden and are there much more for the black
amusement of adults.

- from the Sunday Tasmanian (7/3/04) by Dani Colvin

The Great Montefiasco is a magician who, despite constant practice, can't
quite pull off the sleight of hand. His deaf rabbit keeps missing his
cue and he loses all the petals from his hey-presto flowers. The net
effect of his incompetence is to make people laugh. Lonely, desperate and
dateless, he advertises for an assistant and miraculously finds Betty, who
has been working as a shop assistant all these years.

Betty has a penchant for ineptitude up there with Montefiasco's. He and
Fabulous Betty pratfall their way to success and become the funniest act to
hit the stage in years. They have triplets called the Incredible Minifiascos
and go on to the realisation that making people laugh and not taking
yourself too seriously is in fact highly profitable.

Colin Thompson is a prolific and popular writer for children. However, with
this particular picture book there is discordance between the text and the
illustrations.

The colour tones of Ben Redlich's illustrations are predominantly inky blues
on a white background with pink and purple hues. The figures are elongated
and have strange slithering S shapes and what appear to be tumour filled
bellies. Betty's toad-like siblings sneer at her dreams and Betty herself
possesses a disconcerting sort of arch sexiness. She and The Great
Montefiasco look like they would be more at home illustrating Christopher
Isherwood's I am a Camera.

The story is warm and straight forward but the highly sophisticated
illustrations make this book more suited for upper primary and secondary
level children. Even then the intention of the publishers is still quite
puzzling.

- from The Age (6/3/04) by Dianne Dempsey

Colin Thompson is the illustrator and author of such popular picture books
as The Last Alchemist, Looking for Atlantis and The Violin Man, among
others. For this book, Thompson has only created the story - a funny but
moving tale about the world's worst magician. The Great Montefiasco, whose
tricks "never worked and even when they looked as if they might, something
always went wrong". When the Great Montefiasco advertises for an assistant
his life changes - but not in the way he expects. The story is a delight to
read, but fans of Thompson's illustrations won't be disappointed, either.
Ben Redlich's illustrations both complement the story and allude to
Thompson's own drawing style, with lots of sly, Thompson-like details and
background jokes. Each reading seems to uncover new gags, which in turn
reveal new details about the characters. The Great Montefiasco is a picture
book you can come back to again and again. Highly recommended for ages eight
and up.

- from Melbourne's Child (April 2004)

The Great Montefiasco is a magician who just can't get his tricks right. As
a result, when he performs, the audience laugh, rather than gasp in
amazement. This makes him an extremely sad man.

The distortion between what he wants to be and what he is, is captured in
Ben Redlich's unusual style of artwork. The posters of previously great
magicians that adorn his walls are all represented in conventional forms of
artwork, but the Great Montefiasco's reality is represented using quite
recognisable, but distorted shapes and figures. The choice of colour works
in a similar fashion. Rather than the bright vibrant colours that often go
with a magic show, the colours here are paler with darker undertones. The
artwork is complex and interesting, and readers with a sharp eye will notice
throughout the text many clues about the Great Montefiasco, his character
and his story that are signalled through images relating to a deck of cards.

The written text shows great empathy for the main character and his dilemma,
but the solution to his problem that one might expect, is not what happens.
The conclusion however is satisfying and heart warming. Thompson has a real
talent for achieving a sound balance between humour and sadness, so the
reader comes away from this story feeling richer for the experience.
Suitable for 10-16.

- from Reading Time Vol 48 No 2

The Great Montefiasco cannot cope with being a highly entertaining and
successful flop when he aspires to be a brilliant magician. An advertisement
in a newspaper results in a blushing assistant who not only brings him love
and triplets but increases the hilarious mayhem. Colin Thompson's story is
straightforward and affirming, but Ben Redlich's extravagently surreal
characters, visual jokes and reproductions of authentic old theatrical
posters make this a treat for the older, even adult reader.

- from The Advertiser (22/5/04) by Katharine England

The Great Montefiasco is a maladroit magician whose performances are saved
by his hysterically bad tricks. When his search for an assistant brings the
equally clumsy Betty into his life, the Great Montefiasco finds not only
fame, but true love. Both children and adults will return over and over to
this book to spot the countless amusing details in each illustration.

- from Booksamillion.com

Colin Thompson and Ben Redlich's The Great Montefiasco claims a preschool
and primary school audience, and this picture book is likely to please young
readers and also adults, who will enjoy the fantastic images. Montefiasco is
the worst magician in the world; the laughter that greets his catastrophes
hurts him deeply. He is ready to give up until he hires an assistant, Betty,
who, he hopes, will make things happen. Unfortunately, Betty is an even
greater klutz than Montefiasco. But every cloud has a silver lining; Betty
and Montefiasco are such a hoot that they become a roaring success, marry,
have triplets and live happily ever after. Success has been grasped from
what Montefiasco saw as defeat. The Monte- and Mini-fiascos 'bring far more
happiness to the world than any ordinary card trick ever could'. The story
is accompanied by wonderful illustrations, each page full of warm, softly
coloured and bizarre forms, mirror images, and disembodied toothy mouths.
Gloomy fish, odd-eyed dolls, disconsolate chickens, owls, rats, bats,
spiders and other unidentifiable creatures surround Montefiasco and Betty,
who, like their associates, relatives and offspring, are elongated,
distorted figures of wonder. The walls of their cluttered rooms are covered
with posters (apparently gleaned from Dover Publications), which advertise
'The Learned Pig', great real-life magicians (including a man who eats
stone) and other oddities. The Great Montefiasco is a witty visual feast for
the young and not-so-young reader.

- from Australian Book Review (Dec 2004-Jan 2005) by Stella Lees

Looking like images in funhouse mirrors, Montefiasco and the other figures
in Redlich's scenes are almost lost amid an extravagant clutter of magic
tricks, old posters and newspapers, toys, feathers, memorabilia, visual
references to great magicians of the past, and general bric-a-brac--some of
it, in homage to Thompson's own famously busy art, filling up nooks and
crannies beneath the floorboards. Pleasant tale, but the pictures are the
real draw.

- from Kirkus Reviews

Thompson's story is at once tender and humorous, and Redlich's misshapen
heroes inhabit a gloomy, surreal but enchanting world that readers may well
pore over repeatedly.

- from Publisher's Weekly

The Great Montefiasco is the worst magician ever. Even when they look as if
they might work, his tricks always go wrong. His audiences think this is
very amusing, but it makes Montefiasco miserable. He practises every day,
and of course the tricks work. He doesn't realise that when they do work, he
is a very boring magician. He decides to take on an assistant and gets the
Fabulous Betty who is probably the worst magician's assistant ever. Of
course, the audience loves them both and they fall in love with each other.

The story may be predictable but it is well-told and funny and Ben Redlich's
surreal illustrations are terrific, though they will not be to everyone's
taste. They are the kind of illustrations that you can look and look at and
still find a detail you didn't spot the last time you looked. It's aimed at
7 to 10-year-olds, but the illustrations extend the age appeal.

- from School Librarian, Vol 53 No 1 (spring 2005) by Marie Imeson

Beautifully designed,this book is a whimsical tale of a lonely, unhappy
performer who finds joy in both his professional and personal life. The
understated narrative is filled with quirky irony and the reader is drawn
into the pathos through the sophisticated, eccentric and surreal
illustrations. These depict authentic theatrical memorabilia and feature
elongated, loopy figures and old worldly colours. Rich with visual jokes,
puns and fun this title is very engaging.The resolution offers a beautiful
message of love and hope.

- from Notable Australian Children's Books 2005

Ben Redlich's complex illustrations will reward the most discerning readers with their intricate details...

- from Children's Literature (2005) by Heidi Hauser Green

This book is great fun! The pictures are entertaining and unique and they go well with a story that is as humorous as it is touching! *****

- from amazon.com, customer review