Long Road to the Circus (by Betsy Bird) 7-Day Cover Reveal: Day Three!

Once more I reveal a piece of interior spot art in conjunction with my seven day run-up to revealing the cover of my debut middle grade novel Long Road to the Circus (out October 5th!). This book is illustrated to the nines by the my hugely talented, multi-award winning, and downright good friend, David Small.

Now yesterday I introduced you to a historical ostrich. A true villain of a bird by the name of Gaucho. There’s a story that says that Gaucho once escaped from the farm where he was kept and ran into downtown Mendon (or was it Three Rivers?). There some men tried to capture him and he delivered a kick so nasty that it almost gutted one of the poor fellows from guggle to zatch.

The Gaucho of my book is of a similar disposition, but just to add to the fun he also has a habit of tossing full-grown men off of his back. Now I know a person is not allowed to have favorite images from their own books, but indulge me for a moment. Because honestly, I think this may be my favorite picture in the whole dang story:

“Horses may have souls, but ostriches? They do not. No more than giant chickens would.”

I had never thought much about the spiritual lives of barnyard beasts, but it seemed to me that even without a soul, Gaucho had more spit and personality than most of the other animals I’d encountered in my days combined. An ornery personality, sure. But a personality.

You what it is about this picture that makes me so amused? It’s the little legs of the man being thrown. Look at ’em. Like tiny toothpicks. The curve of them. I’m just so highly amused.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s image, where you’ll get to see a formidable showdown between Gaucho and the lady in charge.

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2021, Cover Reveal