The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Yoko Tanaka

Posted by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Four paw prints. A long time ago in an old city there lived a sad boy, Peter, who wanted nothing more than to learn what happened to the baby sister he was told died at birth. One day a gypsy tells the boy that an elephant will help him find his sister. But Peter has just one problem with the gypsy's story. There are no elephants in his city. (In other parts of the city there is a magician who can do great magic even though he only wants flowers, a police officer and his wife who have no children, a wealthy woman who must use a wheelchair, a beggar with a blind dog, a sculptor with a broken back, a woman with a house big enough to house an elephant, and a small girl in an orphanage who wishes she had a family.) On one hand this is a very lovely and simple book to understand. You meet all the characters at the beginning of the book and you think you know exactly what is going to happen. But you would be wrong. Nothing happens the way you expect, but the results are so wonderful that you won't care. If you want to learn more about the book then you should visit http://www.themagicianselephant.com/. (This review is based on the uncorrected proof. The final book was scheduled to be published on September 8, 2009.)

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