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Product Description
Product Description
In a highly awaited new novel, Kate DiCamillo conjures a haunting fable about trusting the unexpected — and making the extraordinary come true.
What if? Why not? Could it be?
When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be narrated by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch.
What if? Why not? Could it be?
When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be narrated by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch.
About the Author
Kate DiCamillo is the author of THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, which was awarded the Newbery Medal; THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE, winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, a Newbery Honor winner; THE TIGER RISING, a National Book Award Finalist; the picture book GREAT JOY; and five books starring Mercy Watson, including a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book. She lives in Minneapolis.
Yoko Tanaka is a graduate of the Art Center College in Pasadena, California. She is the illustrator of THEODOSIA AND THE SERPENTS OF CHAOS by R. L. LaFevers, and SPARROW GIRL by Sara Pennypacker. Yoko Tanaka lives in Los Angeles and Bangkok.
Yoko Tanaka is a graduate of the Art Center College in Pasadena, California. She is the illustrator of THEODOSIA AND THE SERPENTS OF CHAOS by R. L. LaFevers, and SPARROW GIRL by Sara Pennypacker. Yoko Tanaka lives in Los Angeles and Bangkok.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very Weird Book,
By Yoyo Mama "library lady" (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Magician's Elephant (Hardcover)
After reading and thoroughly enjoying Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, I was excited to get this book. After reading the first couple of chapters, my excitement dwindled. This book is just plain weird. As a school librarian, and a parent I tried to picture what it would be like to be a child reading this book and I don't think that the audience it's geared to would really enjoy it or "get" it. There is some humour in it that I appreciated, but it would go right over the heads of most kids. Anyhow, I'll put it in my library and let them decide for themselves, but I wouldn't recommend anybody rushing out and buying it.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dark and Strange Original Fairy Tale,
By
This review is from: The Magician's Elephant (Hardcover)
Reason for Reading: I enjoy the author's booksThis is an original fairy tale that illustrates that we never know what the future will hold, that dreams should never be given up, and that fate (God's will) eventually does come to pass in it's own time. It is a strange tale though of an elephant crashing through the roof of the opera house as a magician performs a trick. The elephant becomes the centre of the city's attention and becomes orphan Peter's focus as a fortuneteller once told him that an elephant would lead him to his sister, whom he thought was dead. This is a dark tale. The atmosphere is dark, gloomy; the weather is grey and the feelings are of sadness, hopelessness. Topics brought forward are hunger, childlessness, blindness, beggars, cripples, seeking attention and homesickness. But there is always hope, the elephant is a symbol of this, she is a saviour for many though she must suffer silently before she is to leave them. Though the book is dark and sad it has a happy, feel-good ending. I must admit to having a hard time getting into the book though. It starts off so strange, as it is a strange story, and I really wondered just what it was all about and whether children would actually "get" it. But the further I read on the more I became attached to the characters and became invested in the plot. For children, I think those that will most appreciate the book are the ones who have grown up on a steady diet of fairy tales, the real unaltered original tales, and are used to this type of dark fairy tale.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like Jane Austen for children,
By
This review is from: The Magician's Elephant (Paperback)
I read this book to my son and nephew. It is- like all of DiCamillo's books- a little sad but the sweets and the rewards at the end of the book are wondrous. The book teaches children to keep promises, believe in themselves, and to trust in those whom they know to be good regardless of what the world might have them think. The prose has a very Austen feel to it and it better for reading aloud than a solo read.Wonderful book to share with young boys ages 8-12
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