Clyde Beatty was born in Bainbridge, Ohio, in 1903. The Beatty family was poor, and Clyde and his three sisters had few advantages, but they were very happy. They went to school in the village and tried to help around home as much as possible. Clyde delivered newspapers for a short time and later worked in a grocery store to help support the family. He was ever active and kindhearted.

When Clyde was seven years old, a circus came to town, the first that he had ever seen. He was excited with the strange sights in the circus parade and on the circus grounds. Mostly he was attracted by the wild animals which he saw, especially the lions and the tigers. From that time on he knew that some day he wanted to travel with a circus and become a lion tamer.

During his boyhood he always managed to have a few pets—cats, guinea pigs, dogs, and even a raccoon. He cherished these animals, took good care of them, and trained some of them to do tricks. All the while he looked forward to the time when he could train animals in a circus. He felt that being a wild animal trainer would be the most challenging work he could possibly undertake in the world.

When Clyde was sixteen, he had an opportunity to work as a cage boy with Howe's Great London Circus. He realized that this was a lowly job and that he would have to leave home and travel great distances. Even so, he felt that it would serve as a stepping-stone to the world of his dreams.

On the road Clyde soon demonstrated the qualities of a capable animal trainer. He seemed to understand animals and he could handle them masterfully. Within two years he was given an act of his own with five performing bears. A few years later he began to help train lions and tigers.

As time passed, Beatty became famous as one of the greatest wild animal trainers in the country. He left Howe's Great London Circus and traveled with the Hagenback-Wallace Circus.

Finally he formed his own circus, the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus. In his spare time he wrote books and made movies based on his experiences.

This intriguing story has been written by Katharine E. Wilkie, who has contributed several other books to the Childhood of Famous American Series. It relates the true story of a small town boy who had dreams of the future and who struggled tenaciously to make his dreams come true. 

From the dust jacket