“Watching the first ten minutes or so of Modern Times could be perilous. You could die laughing. The scenes are that funny.” The late Sid Fleischman’s enthusiasm for the comic genius of Charlie Chaplin fuels his lively and informative biography of the entertainer. Fleischman vividly depicts Chaplin’s rough beginnings in the slums of London, his entrée into vaudeville, and his rise to Hollywood fame. Chaplin turned his gifts as a keen observer, talented mimic, and brilliant physical comedian into gold on stage and screen. Behind the scenes, he was a perfectionist whose personal life was as complicated as the intricate timing in a scene from one of his silent movie masterpieces. Even readers unfamiliar with Chaplin movies may recognize his “Little Tramp” character—one of many shown in black-and-white photographs of Chaplin in and out of costume. And Fleischman makes it easy for those smitten by Chaplin to find out more: He provides an annotated bibliography for further reading and an annotated filmography of his favorite Chaplin flicks. (Age 12 and older)

See him? That little tramp twitching a postage stamp of a mustache, politely lifting his bowler hat, and leaning on a bamboo cane with the confidence of a gentleman? A slapstick comedian, he blazed forth as the brightest movie star in the Hollywood heavens.

Everyone knew Charlie—Charlie Chaplin.

When he was five years old he was pulled onstage for the first time, and he didn't step off again for almost three-quarters of a century. Escaping the London slums of his tragic childhood, he took Hollywood like a conquistador with a Cockney accent. With his gift for pantomime in films that had not yet acquired vocal cords, he was soon rubbing elbows with royalty and dining on gold plates in his own Beverly Hills mansion. He was the most famous man on earth—and he was regarded as the funniest.

Still is. . . . He comes to life in these pages. It's an astonishing rags-to-riches saga of an irrepressible kid whose childhood was dealt from the bottom of the deck. Abundantly illustrated.