Meet Children's Author Chris Van Dusen

December 8, 2011 – Popular children's author-illustrator Chris Van Dusen will appear at Penobscot Marine Museum for an event highlighting the opening of its winter exhibit "The Circus Comes to Town" on Saturday, December 17, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Van Dusen will read and sign his book The Circus Ship, and the museum will engage children with circus-themed craft activities and refreshments. The event is free.

The book reading and signing will be adjacent to "The Circus Comes to Town," an exhibit of circus art, photography, and a collection of several hundred miniature circus figures known as the Bex Bros. Circus. The display features scale model big top and sideshow tents, performers, animals, circus vehicles, attendees and workers in an extravagant display model of a traditional American circus.

The Circus Ship is based loosely on a true event. In 1836, a steamship carrying a circus caught fire and sank in Penobscot Bay, giving rise to legends about the survival of the circus animals on Vinalhaven. In The Circus Ship, Van Dusen elaborates on those tall tales, turning a tragic event into a delightful and imaginative comedy for children.

After reading The Circus Ship, Van Dusen will remain to speak with children and to sign books purchased as holiday gifts. A Maine native, Van Dusen is also known for his Mister Magee books and for his illustrations of Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson series.

In addition to the Bex Bros. Circus, the museum exhibit "The Circus Comes to Town" includes circus memorabilia, historic photographs, and circus art by Maine artists Alan Fishman, Nancy Morgan-Barnes, and the late Waldo Peirce. The exhibit will be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., December 10, 11, 17, 18, 29 and 30, and January 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29. Admission is free.