Little Orphan Annie, and Billy Miller's Circus-Show

Meet a spirited orphan who earns her keep in a country household, sweeping, baking, and helping with chores before gathering the children around the kitchen fire. With vivid country dialect and a wonderfully eerie imagination, she spins tales of witches, imps, shape-shifters, and the mysterious Gobble-uns who come for children who misbehave.

These cautionary verses are spooky without losing their playful, storytelling charm. The warnings to mind one’s parents and teachers, cherish those who care for you, and help the poor are wrapped in memorable rhythms and images that invite a dramatic reading.

The collection then turns from fireside fantasy to a lively backyard spectacle. In an old stable, Billy Miller stages his own circus for the neighborhood boys, performing daring tightrope tricks, acrobatics, costume changes, and hilarious clown routines. Together, the pieces celebrate childhood imagination: one child conjures a world of supernatural warnings, while another transforms an ordinary stable into a grand arena.