Wordless Books

The Midnight Circus

Peter Collington


A young boy loves to play on the sit-and-ride toy pony fixed in the street outside his front door. But one day his beloved pony is no longer there, and it seems a replacement is about to be installed.

Spread from The Midnight Circus, showing the sit-and-ride toy pony outside the boy's home

Distraught, the boy heads off to bed, where he dreams of riding the toy pony, now ‘real’, across the town. As the dream continues he becomes part of a fantastic circus adventure, where he finds himself at the centre of the action playing both the role of the hero and of the victim.

Spread from The Midnight Circus, showing the circus tent and performers

Using a very distinctive, realistic style, Peter Collington has created many wordless picturebooks, and this one features nearly 150 separate images. His other books include The Angel and the Soldier Boy (1987), The Tooth Fairy (1995) and A Small Miracle (1997).

Spread from The Midnight Circus, showing a dramatic encounter between the small boy and an enormous gorilla