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The Magician's Elephant
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When ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the marketplace one day and she tells him that his sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures as he desperately tries to find her.
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Add a SummaryI don’t know how, but DiCamillo has done it again. In The Magician’s Elephant you will find a beautiful tale of “what if’s” and impossibilities. Upon her death, Peter’s mother exacted a promise of him. He agreed to always care for his newborn sister. But, being a child was told the baby was dead. In a remarkable series of events Peter begins to hope that Adele is alive and that he might find her and keep his promise. The way is impossible and at one point “…Peter decided that it was a terrible and complicated thing to hope, and that it might be easier, instead, to despair.” But what if Peter does hope? What if?
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Add a CommentI am a 4th grader and this is the book I am reading because I am Global Reading Challenger! This book is also very wonderful and exciting!
A really great and fantastic story about hope and dreams come true. It is so beautiful, and I recommend it to everyone. It is one of my favorites!
Magician makes elephant appear. It leads Peter to find his sister. Beautifully written.
What a wonderful story!
Remarkable!
Wonderful story! Very mysterious, makes you feel like the charcter, with the right setting and story line. Could imagine a better book. I stayed up 2 nights in a row to finish this beautiful story.
a tale about hope; really enjoyed the black-and-white illustrations.
A fine story suitable for boys or girls. Fantastical, funny and heartwarming. Classic DiCamillo.
Harry Houdini's famous magic trick, in which he made an elephant vanish in the Hippodrome theatre in New York in January of 1918, was no doubt the inspiration for Kate DiCamillo's charming children's story, The Magician's Elephant. The setting -- winter in the imaginary city of Baltese -- again brings Houdini's era to mind. There is also a sense of timelessness, however. The full-page illustrations by Yoko Tanaka add to feel of it being a traditional tale or fable. Ten-year-old Peter Augustus Duchene learns from a fortuneteller that one member of his family survives: his little sister Adele. He is told that an elephant will lead him to her. This is a story about the importance and the rewards of faith and hope. People (and animals) learn to pay attention to their nightly dreams. Courage is necessary in order to bring about positive changes in the world. It is a good choice to read aloud in a mixed-ages group; Grade 3 to adult.
Enchanting.