SuitabookLeon and the Place Between
Angela McAllister and Grahame Baker-Smith
- Reading
- Read it aloud slowly, pausing before the main performance and the box. Spend time examining the circus details and fold-out spread, then invite interpretations rather than insisting whether the magic is real.
- Themes
- Belief and scepticism: Leon believes in magic while other family members question or dismiss it during the circus show. The contrast invites reflection on different ways of responding to uncertainty, without establishing that either position is correct.
- Curiosity and crossing a threshold: Leon volunteers, enters a little box and discovers the Place Between. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Wonder through performance and art: Jugglers, a mechanical carousel, acrobats, transformations and surreal illustrations create a theatrical world. The book appears to use performance and visual strangeness to cultivate wonder and suspense, rather than explain magic realistically.
- Worth knowing
- The circus setting includes suspense, creepy or dark undertones, unexplained magic and Leon entering a box that leads elsewhere. The ending and the extent of any danger or distress are unclear.