High-wire unicyclists

I just happened to teach the following two passages in two different classes on the same day. They're from two different books, published by two different companies, with two different pedagogical purposes -- but they both mention riding a unicycle on a high wire in a circus. (Neither actually uses the word unicycle, though; both instead describe it as a one-wheeled bicycle.)

"Hannah works in a circus. She rides a bike with one tire. . . . 'Sometimes I ride my bike on a high wire.'" The passage is from a phonics unit focusing on "ire" and "ore."

"Most Chinese acrobats join the circus . . . . acrobats use 'monocycles' (bicycles with one wheel). . . . Brave acrobats walk, cycle, or jump on a wire that is high in the air." The passage is for general reading comprehension, and for students to discuss using comparative and superlative adjectives.

(By the way, what planet is the author of that second passage from? "Monocycles"? "Gastriloquists"? Is that some sort of Philip Pullman alternate-history English or what?)