Thursday, October 8, 2009

154 - The Magician's Elephant; Kate DiCamillo


The Magician's Elephant is a wonderful whimsical story which includes some fabulous black and white illustrations, by Yoko Tanaka. The illustrations add to the beauty of this story which takes place some 200 years ago.

Peter Augustus Duchene is a ten year old orphan. When his guardian sends him out with one coin to purchase some food in the Baltese market square, he sees a fortune teller's tent, and has something more pressing than food on his mind. Peter was told that his sister was dead, and the question he must ask the fortune teller is----does his sister live, and if so, how can he find her? The fortune teller answers the question by saying "follow the elephant", and tells him that the elephant will lead him there.

When a magician's act goes terribly wrong, and an elephant falls from the ceiling of the opera house, an unbelievable chain of events are set into motion.

The Magician's Elephant is written for middle school aged children. It is a dark, yet hopeful tale with a wonderful cast of charming characters. It is a wonderful story that shows us what can happen to those who believe. I am confident this delightful story will reawaken the child inside of most who read it. It is a story that will have you rooting for not only the children, but the elephant and magician as well. I LOVED the author's last book: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and I must say, DiCamillo has written yet another winner, in my opinion. DON'T MISS IT!

18 comments:

  1. It sounds like a very sweet story...I would love to read it! I like the cover, too.

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  2. I love Kate DiCamillo. I can't wait to read this, I need to get my hands on a copy! Great review!

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  3. This sounds wonderful! Our family also loved Edward Tulane - we listened to the audio version during a car trip and were all captivated by it!

    DiCamillo is coming to our local Borders for a book signing soon - maybe we'll head over there and pick up The Magician's Elephant.

    Thanks for the review - I've been curious about this one!

    Sue

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  4. We picked this up at the National Book Festival and my daughter read most of it on the drive home. It's sitting on my nightstand and I can't wait!

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  5. Kate DiCamillo is a wonderful author. I will look for this one. Recently I read DiCamillo's The Tiger Rising.

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  6. I've been waiting for reviews of this one. My daughter loves DiCamillo's books, and I was sad to miss out on a copy at BEA. Thanks for the great review.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  7. Why not ask an Elephant the way to go -- he never forgets.

    Interesting a youth book can be both dark and hopeful. Love the cover. I love book blogs for all the different genres that are show cased. Thanks!

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  8. I added this to my list a couple of weeks ago. It sounds sooo good.

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  9. Bravo!! I loved this one too!! She's a very talented author and the drawings were awesome!!!

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  10. I read this last night in no time and loved it!! I hadn't read this author before but I will read more now. Great review!

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  11. Sounds delightful. I'll add this to my list.

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  12. Got this one on my TBR list. Thanks for your review.

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  13. Wow! Sounds so sweet. I haven't read anything by this author at all. I need to correct that soon!

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  14. I'll have to start reading this author soon. Thanks for the great review!

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  15. I'll make sure not to miss it. I am always looking for great books that will capture my daughter's attention and this one seems like a good choice.

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  16. I'm looking forward to reading this, but right now I'm working my way through her Mercy Watson series!

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  17. I worked at my son's school's book fair the other day and saw this book ... it caught my eye! Sounds great!

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  18. I bet my kids would love this book. My daughter and I have a fondness for elephants, so this looks like something I'd like as well. Great review, I am glad you enjoyed the book so much!

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