Penny's Reviews and Chat

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Today I’m reviewing the last novel out by Kate DiCamillo, The Magician’s Elephant. (I hope she’s busy working on a new novel for me to share with you.) As in The Tale of Despereaux, The Miraculous Journey Edward Tulane, and Flora & Ulysses, there is fantasy and magic going on.  Then, like in The Tiger Rising and Because of Winn Dixie, there is also real life pain and sadness.  Overall, the fantastical wins out.  You can feel it on each page. Other reviewers have called it surreal, dreamy, and lyrical. I agree.

 

A young orphan boy, Peter Augustus Duchene, now lives with and attends to an old soldier. He remembers he had a sister, Adele, and asks a fortune teller if his sister still lives and if so, will he find her. The fortune teller’s answer isn’t straightforward. She tells Peter an elephant will lead him to her. This quest seems hopeless; there being no elephant in his bleak winter town. But then suddenly, a magician performs the most amazing magic trick of his life. He produces an elephant out of thin air.

Then events proceed. The many characters have their role leading to the possible happy ending we all desire. There’s much despair and hopelessness, but overall the story is about hoping, wishing, and dreaming. We must all face despair, down times, and bad times in our lives. We have to learn to deal with them, even overcome them. In this case, a young boy and girl’s hoping and dreaming saves them.

I enjoyed the story or fable. It was compelling, carrying you along to what some have said is a predictable happy ending. It is the ending you hope for, but since happy endings are the stuff dreams and novels are made of, you’re not sure the author will be able to bring it all together. Some real life intrudes—broken people are not all restored, though they accept their fate. For the most part, the ones needing a home and family are satisfied. Hope and compassion are rewarded. It’s a good book. Still, I wanted more, and I wait for Ms. DiCamillo to give me more of amazing tales, unforgettable characters, with her glorious writing.

See more information on Kate DiCamillo at http://www.katedicamillo.com/

Tags:

Magician, Elephant, Peter Augustus Duchene, Kate DiCamillo, Adele, Middle Grade, hope, belonging, magic