Lizzie Nonsense by Jan Ormerod

"When Lizzie's mama and papa were married, the sun shone on fields of yellow wheat which grew right up to the door of the tiny church. But for as long as Lizzie can remember, she and mama and papa and baby have lived in their little house in the bush, and the church and the neighbours are far away."

Papa needs to take the timber to a faraway town, so mama and Lizzie and baby are left alone for many weeks. As mama completes her chores Lizzie tags along. She sees the world in a different way - using her imagination. The baby in the bath is really floating in the wide blue sea; the flowers from the garden become a bridal bouquet; and for dinner Lizzie declares they will have peaches and cream and sweet little cakes. Of course they are actually having turnips! The church is too far away but on Sunday's they put on their best clothes and walk along the track pretending they are returning from church. Finally papa arrives home:

"And they walk together back to their little house in the bush."

Image source: State Library of Victoria Story Island

Lizzie Nonsense has a special dedication to "my grandmother Beatrice Evelyn Harvey 1883-1972", so we know this book is based on true events. Jan Ormerod, who died in 2013, also wrote The Water Witcher based on the life of her grandfather.

Here is the full Kirkus Star review: When Papa takes the cut sandalwood into town, Lizzie, Mama and the baby are all alone in their little house in the bush. Lizzie is always playing and pretending; Mama calls it Lizzie nonsense, but her imagination helps lighten the daily chores and hard work. While Mama tends the garden, she picks flowers and becomes a bride; as she helps Mama prepare the usual turnips for dinner, they become peaches and cream; as they mend clothes, Lizzie pretends to make a party dress with buttons and bows. Mama even joins the playfulness when they dress in their best on Sunday and walk along the track and back, pretending they’ve been to church. The beautiful painterly, watercolor illustrations are a departure from Ormerod’s earlier cuddly style. The earth-hued wispy and airy paintings affectionately embellish Lizzy’s nonsense, conveying a warmhearted snippet of time when a family bond overcame the hardships of Australian pioneer life to make a home in an untamed land. Based on anecdotes from the author’s own family history.

Lizzie Nonsense was published in 2004 and shortlisted by the CBCA in 2005. In 2006 IBBY Australia selected Lizzie Nonsense as our Honour Book title for illustration. Here is the catalogue annotation:

Lizzie lives with her mama, papa and baby brother on a remote farm in the Australia bush. Papa leaves the family for weeks on end while he delivers wood to the distant town leaving Lizzie, her Mama and baby alone in the bush. Lizzie is a lively girl with a vivid imagination. Her brother in his bath is floating in the ocean, a fallen log is her brave steed and flowers in the garden become a bridal bouquet. Lizzie is such a happy girl. She finds delight in the smallest of things and her buoyant outlook and positivity help her Mama during these difficult days. Even though she dismisses Lizzie’s ideas as nonsense Mama has her own daydreams too. On Sundays they put on their best clothes and pretend they have walked to church. Finally, after all the long weeks, they hear a sound. Is that harness jangling just in the imagination? No it is papa! Lizzie Nonsense is dedicated to the memory of Jan Ormerod’s grandmother and her life in the 1890s. It is a tale told with warmth, tenderness and humour. The images are built up from pencil drawings. Watercolour and ink are used to evoke the light of the Australian bush and the simple candlelight of their home. Several illustrations are presented as an oval similar to a framed picture placed on a dresser or mantle.

Sadly, it is now out of print. I thought of it again when it was mentioned in a recent podcast when the presenter listed books about weddings. I did a blog post about this a few days ago. Today I discovered the 2013 paperback edition of Lizzie Nonsense and it does look like a wedding story even though in my mind this is still a minor aspect of the story. The cover image comes from the title page of the original book. 

I have talked about many books by Jan Ormerod in the past. Click on the label for this post to find more of her books. 

When I first read Lizzie Nonsense I thought of this wonderful Australian poem which I learned by heart for a play called Yarns and Woolley Tales in 1984:

Before the glare o’ dawn I rise

To milk the sleepy cows, an’ shake

The droving dust from tired eyes,

Look round the rabbit traps, then bake

The children’s bread.

There’s hay to stook, an’ beans to hoe,

An’ ferns to cut in the scrub below,

Women must work, when men must go

Shearing from shed to shed.

I patch an’ darn, now evening comes,

An’ tired I am with labour sore,

Tired o’ the bush, the cows, the gums,

Tired, but we must dree for long months more

What no tongue tells.

The moon is lonely in the sky,

Lonely the bush, an’ lonely I

Stare down the track no horse draws nigh,

An’ start . . . at the cattle bells.

You're Too Little by Katie Stewart

You have big eyes to see in the dark.

You have strong paws to hold on.

And you have a super special tail.

You have want it takes. Why not give it a go?

Bookseller blurb: Pygmy Possum wants to climb far, far up into the trees to taste the sweet blossom nectar. But everyone keeps telling her the same thing- 'It's very high. You're too little. You might fall.' Are they right, or will she find a way? This is a gentle tale of believing in yourself in the face of others' doubt and recognising your own strengths.

The main character in this story of bravery and confidence is a Western Pygmy Possum. Here is a photo:

Image source: Australian Geographic

Books with a repeated refrain are perfect for preschoolers either to read beside your own child or with a group. I like the way the Australian animals in this book really look like real animals and also the choices of animals are perfect because many of these will be less well known to young readers and so might spark some curiosity. 

Image Source: WA Museum

Katie Stewart reads her book in this video. Here are the teaching notes from the publisher. As background reading for teachers or if you set a research task for older students you might like to read more about each of the Australian animals in this story:

• Western Pygmy Possum
• Numbat
• Brushtail Possum
• Gecko
• Weebill

This is a Weebill - I had not heard of this bird

Image Source: Birdlife

This is a gentle tale of believing in yourself in the face of others’ doubt and recognising your own strengths, to have faith in yourself regardless of others’ opinions and develop resilience, perseverance and that inner strength that allows risk-taking as well as dealing with success and failure. The Bottom Shelf

Thanks to Fremantle Press for sending me a copy of this book which was published on 29th July 2025. This book reminded me a little of Puffling. If you are talking about growing up, confidence, perseverance, self belief and 'the right time' you could read these two books side by side.

The story is set at night because these animals are nocturnal but that gives rise to my only tiny criticism of this book - I found myself wanting a break from the strong saturated blue of the night sky which is used on every page. 

This book is part of a series:

Katie Stewart is an author and illustrator. Born in the north of England, she came to Australia at the age of nine. She started her working life as an archaeologist and ethnohistorian, went on to teaching and then to being a mother. She later worked in a school library, but her lifelong dream was to be what she is now. She is married to a farmer, has three children, and her great love of animals means she has a lot of pets and takes lots of nature photos. In her spare time, she tries to play the harp or wanders the countryside with a metal detector amusing the neighbours and occasionally finding an interesting piece of history. Her books have been shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year (2020 and 2021) and shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards (2022).

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman illustrated by Marcin Minor

When winds blow

Through Deadwood east

The undead monster waits to feast

On little bones

And braids

And toes

But don't you scream

Or its hunger grows!

While I did read this book fairly quickly over a couple of days it took me a little while to get used to the use of a girls name Clare for a male character - the undead fox.

What does undead mean? Well, when a creature dies it usually just heads off to the afterlife but there are some creatures that need help to find the right door or realm. This guiding or, as it is called here, the Ushering, is the job of the undead - in this case Clare the fox but there have been many others before him - Brickbane a fox; Eddifoot a racoon; Po an elk and Felix a moth. There are four destinations:

"Travel north from here and you'll find the realm of Peace ... for those who found joy in rest. Head east and you encounter the realm of Pleasure ... best suited to those who sought fun about all else. Directly west is Progress ... for those who loved work, service and effort. And finally travel south ... and one enters the realm of Pain."

Clare has been sending the souls who arrive at his cottage in Deadwood Forest to the 'right' door for over four years. He enjoys his work and loves tending to his extensive mushroom garden but deep in his heart he is lonely and also frightened because Brickbane told him on the night of his death that he was destined for Pain. And not only that a prophecy song is circulating:

"On All Hallows Eve, Deadwood will bring mayhem to Fernlight. And before the moon sets, one in Deadwood will vanish forever."

Then there is new arrival. It is a badger named Gingersnipes. Astute readers will realise something is wrong. Gingersnipes does not arrive in the usual way by knocking on Clare's door. When Clare sends Gingersnipes away to his assigned realm "he did not wait for the crackling sound of her departure".  This is a big mistake.

Hopefully now you have lots of unanswered questions. How did Clare die? Why did Gingersnipes arrive at this time? What does do the songs of All Hallows Eve mean? Who is the little girl with the red shoes? Can the message and advice from Hesterfowl be trusted? And most important of all what on earth is a braid?  (Of course, dear reader you know the answer to this final question but it is a mystery to Clare).

There is one very violent scene near the end of this book so I am going to say this is a book for mature readers aged 10+. 

All of this plot sounds every 'heavy' but there are some sweet touches of humour in this story and you are sure to enjoy meeting the rats at the dump named Nine and Two. The names of the mushrooms that Clare collects from the forest are also delightful. And I loved the way Clare always said 'travel true' as he sent lost souls off to their assigned realm. 

Here is a description of Clare's cottage:

"Clare, for example, had strung the ceiling with rows and rows of twine. The walls were lined with shelves crammed with jars of all shapes and colours, gathered from Deadwood Dump and filled with dried fungi. In the firelight the vessels glinted and glowed, splashing the hollow in jewelled hues."

Here is a line that made me smile - it is Gingersnipes speaking:

"I have a moose-sized bone to pick with you. Four times you sent me into that forest. And four times the coloured lights led me back here. Is this some sort of game? A test? Because I'm tired of it, fox!"

And later Gingersnipes says: "You're a tough nut to crack, Clare, and frankly I am not a squirrel!"

There is an interesting theme in this book about thirst - this is something I need to think a little more about. Being undead Clare does not need food or drink, but he makes special tea for all his visitors and so it seems important and very strange that once Gingersnipes arrives, and Clare's world shifts, he seems to be desperately thirsty all the time. 

Here is a description of Hesterfowl the grouse - "She wore a cloak of moss. A collar of bones encircled her short neck, some poor dead animal's rib cage fanning up and around her head. The feathers surrounding her eyes were smeared with berry pulp and groomed into sharp points." (I need to make special mention of the amazing illustrations in this book AND question why his name is not on the cover or title page. You can see his art here on Instagram). Marcin Minor lives in Poland.

Image source Instagram

I think it was the cover that first caught my attention. Checking some details I see the hardcover of this book arrived here in Australia in late February 2025 then, as I already mentioned I was given a generous book voucher for one of book chain stores here in Sydney - so when I saw they had the paperback which was released in April this book was an obvious first purchase.

SPOILER ALERT - Bookseller blurb: Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. Here, leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall: not quite dead, but not quite alive...just like Clare. Long ago, he was struck by a car, and, hovering between life and death, he was given the choice to either cross into the Afterlife or become an Usher of wandering souls. Clare chose the latter: stepping into a solitary life of helping souls meet their destiny. Clare's quiet and predictable days are met with upheaval when a badger soul named Gingersnipes (arrives). Despite Clare's efforts to usher her into the Afterlife, the badger is unable to find her way out of Deadwood. This is unprecedented. Baffling. A disturbing mystery which threatens the delicate balance of the living and the dead. Clare seeks the help of Hesterfowl--the visionary grouse who recently foretold of turmoil in Deadwood. But Hesterfowl divulges a shocking revelation about the badger that leaves Clare devastated, outraged, and determined to do anything to change their fate.

Read some young reader reviews - very insightful.

Heartbreaking, marvelously funny, and generously redemptive. Kirkus Star review

"I really love Gingersnaps" "A timeless book". Colby Sharp Newbery prediction.

US author Aubrey Hartman has written two books. Check out her webpage.  

Companion books:

Good Dog

Loteria

The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke

Magrit

The Jolly Postman series by Allan Ahlberg

 

I felt moved to re-read my set of Jolly Postman books after hearing that Allan Ahlberg died on the 28th July - just last week. Imagine my surprise when I opened the original book - The Jolly Postman - only to discover it was signed by Allan himself!  I have absolutely no idea how or where this happened - but yay!

The Jolly Postman delivers letters and cards to the inhabitants of fairy land – and drinks a lot of cups of tea. The book includes six letters in envelopes to pull out and read and on every page are lots of little details to spot.

Allan had briefly worked as a postman but the idea for the book actually came from noticing how much his two-year-old daughter liked playing with the post. She loved to take letters out of envelopes and put them back in again. The Ahlbergs were determined that the envelopes and letters would be part of the book. We may take it for granted now that books can be interactive and playful but it took five years to make The Jolly Postman, partly because the Ahlbergs were insistent that all the details would work perfectly.

The Jolly Postman (1986)

"A Jolly Postman delivers letters to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears. Twelve of the pages have been made into six envelopes and contain eight letters and cards. Each letter may be removed from its envelope page and read separately."

The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991)

"A Jolly Postman delivers Christmas cards to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears. Each card may be removed from its envelope page and read separately. With 6 letters in pockets".

The Jolly Pocket Postman (1995)

"Join the jolly postman with his mailbag of delightful deliveries for Dorothy from Oz, Alice from Wonderland, and other favorite storybook characters."

These books are a perfect demonstration of the importance of familiarity with nursery rhymes and fairy tales and later classic stories like The Wizard of Oz.  I can see someone developing a thesis around all the myriad of references found in the text and in the tiny corners of the illustrations in each of these books. Look at this picture above - can you spy Rapunzel; Dick Wittington; Jack and the Beanstalk; the little crooked man; and others I cannot identify - can you?

On each page, there are different letters to read and each offers a fun insight into classic fairy tale characters. The letters also offer a chance of the reader to predict. “What will this letter to the Giant say? Who could it possibly be from?” This story is perfect for a bedtime or story-time reading with parent and child.  The story is a clever rhyming narrative of the Jolly Postman’s travels through fairytale land delivering letters to various fairytale creatures. ...  The letters are also written in a variety of styles: some are formal, such as the letter from the law office; others are informal, and misspelled, like the letter from Goldilocks. Each voice heard in the letters is distinct and unique.

One aspect of the three books that always fascinated and delighted me were the stamps and of course the creative addresses on each envelope.

Image adapted from Kathy apRoberts

Pick up your copies of the books and look for these stamps: Old King Cole; the Loch Ness Monster; Cinderella with her Prince and the glass coach; the Queen of Hearts; the Lion and the Unicorn; Georgie Porgie kissing the girl; the house in the tornado from the Wizard of Oz and even a postage paid stamp from "The Sunny side of the Street".

I also have some favourites among the inclusions inside the envelopes:

The Jolly Postman - Hobgoblin Supplies Ltd advertising page; the official publisher letter from Peter Piper Press and the mini book of Cinderella; and the formal legal letter to Mr Wolf from Meeny, Miny, Mo, & Co Attorneys at Law - here is an extract

"Please understand if this harassment does not cease, we will call in the Official Woodcutter, and - if necessary - all the King's horse and all the King's men."

The Jolly Christmas Postman - my favourite thing is the peep hole or concertina book in the final envelope. I mentioned this very recently. And of course the little jigsaw of Humpty Dumpty is such a terrific surprise.

From The Kids' Book Explorer

On a rainy day you could have hours of fun with these three books - reading all the inclusions and then playing all the games. You might also like to write some letters or postcards and actually post them - not just send an email - to a family member or friend. 

The Humpty Dumpty jigsaw puzzle, the Christmas card to Baby Bear from Goldilocks, 

the fold-out board game to Little Miss Riding Hood from a certain Mr Wolf, and

the Toytown Christmas Annual booklet

Now go back and look at other tiny details. For example look for the tiny old fashioned domestic items such as a vacuum cleaner; telephone; mantle clock; grandfather clock; a radio; the witch eating horrid jam; Cinderella has all her newly opened wedding presents beside her; and on the wall of the bedroom behind the wolf who is disguised as Grandma you will see a painting of Red Riding Hood herself. The postman reading his newspaper - Mirror Mirror; in hospital (in the Jolly Pocket Postman) a cat is visiting with a soccer ball and on the next page we see him scoring a goal - Allan Ahlberg loved soccer (football). Did you notice the Gingerbread Boy lives in a house made from a biscuit tin? There is a moving van called the 3 Little Pigs Ltd. There is just so much to discover and to TALK about in these glorious books. I do hope you can find all three to share with your child. 

Don't you love getting mail? Letters are so fun to open up and read, and here is this book, 

The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, full of letters to people like the Three Bears, and Goldilocks, and the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. Cool, huh? I wonder who is writing to them? What kind of letters to fairy tale characters get, anyway? Hmmm. The only way to find out is to ask your parents for a trip to the library or bookstore to find this book. Then find a squishy, comfy chair, and get reading (or, have someone read it to you). Bugs and Bunnies

Image Source The Postal Museum on Facebook

Image source: The Federation of Children's Book Groups Facebook post

Meet the author Sara Pennypacker

Begin with Sara Pennypacker's web page

I shared a book activity with some children in a local school recently and after the session I gave each of the eight participants a book and I also gifted a small bundle of books to their school library - mostly books I purchased at a recent charity book fair (in mint condition) plus a couple of advance reader copies of books I have talked about here on this blog. One of the books was Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker. When I mentioned the name of the author - Sara Pennypacker - I was dismayed that the Teacher-Librarian looked at me with a very blank face. Coming home I pondered - how could this Teacher-Librarian have missed this author - she has SO many great books and such a fabulous name too. I have some hope that Teacher-Librarian and lots of others will find this post and then go on to discover all the books by Sara Pennypacker. She has written 17 books far. 

Sara Pennypacker was a painter before becoming a writer and has two absolutely fabulous children who are now grown. She has written more than twenty children's books including Pax (illustrated by Jon Klassen), Here In The Real World, the Clementine and Waylan series (both illustrated by Marla Frazee); Stuart's Cape and Stuart Goes to School (both illustrated by Martin Matje), Meet the Dullards, and others. Sara splits her time between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Florida, USA.

I first met Sara Pennypacker through her Clementine series:

Clementine (2006)
The Talented Clementine (2007)
Clementine's Letter (2008)
Clementine Friend of the Week (2010)
Clementine and the Family Meeting (2011)
Clementine All About You Journal (2012)
Clementine and the Spring Trip (2013)
Completely Clementine (2015)

Then I read and shared Sparrow Girl with my Grade 6 students and we all learnt so much about Mao and his plan to eliminate all the sparrows which then led to a dreadful famine and the death of many thousands of people. My Grade 6 students at the time were reading picture books with an Asian focus but this one took us into a true story which was well beyond anything we could have imagined.

Sparrow Girl

I asked the parents to send in old men's ties and then a kind parent sewed them together into a cape - the perfect accompaniment to Stuart's Cape and the sequel Stuart Goes to School. Later these two stories were combined into one book - The Amazing World of Stuart. Around this time I also discovered the Waylon series. 

Then I read Pax and the sequel; The Summer of the Gypsy Moths and Leeva at Last.

Pax

Pax The Journey Home

Summer of the Gypsy Moths

Leeva at Last

I have read Here in the Real world but for some reason I didn't do a blog post.

Author page blurb: Ware can’t wait to spend summer “off in his own world”—dreaming of knights in the Middle Ages and generally being left alone. But then his parents sign him up for dreaded Rec camp, where he must endure Meaningful Social Interaction and whatever activities so-called “normal” kids do. On his first day Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to the camp. Soon he starts skipping Rec, creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot. Jolene scoffs, calling him a dreamer—he doesn’t live in the “real world” like she does. As different as Ware and Jolene are, though, they have one thing in common: for them, the lot is a refuge. But when their sanctuary is threatened, Ware looks to the knights’ Code of Chivalry: Thou shalt do battle against unfairness wherever faced with it. Thou shalt be always the champion of the Right and Good—and vows to save the lot.

Sara Pennypacker has a new book coming in 2026. 

Here is the bookseller blurb for The Lion's Run illustrated by Jon Klassen: The New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an incredible WWII animal rescue adventure, about an orphan who discovers unexpected courage when he becomes involved with the Resistance. Petit eclair. That's what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he's tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be. He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a British horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers. Soon Lucas begins to realise they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbour in town may be harbouring a Jewish family. Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all.

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Yoko Takana

“You must follow the elephant,” said the fortuneteller. “She will lead you there.”

This is the second time I have read The Magician's Elephant.  This time I noticed:

• The inventive character names: Peter Augustus Duchene; Vilna Lutz; Madam La Vaughn; Leo Matienne; Hans Ickman; Count Quintet; and the dog Iddo. 
• The rich vocabulary: gesture, audacity, honorable, midst, excruciating, and sleight for example
• I had forgotten about the importance of dreams in this story
• The city and the winter cold feel like additional characters.
• The way Kate DiCamillo builds the story so that a reader just knows there will be a very happy ending. I was so happy to discover Leo and Gloria longed for a child of their own.
• Readers have to 'join the dots' in the final scenes to work out that this does come true and the two children are now living with and loved by Leo and Gloria Matienne.
• There is an important minor theme in this story about the futility of war.
• It is wonderful that this book is designed with lots of white space and a larger font size.
• The short chapters and rapid scene changes make this a perfect book to read aloud.
• The way the people in the town became obsessed about the elephant reminded me of the books I talked about in a previous post that tell the story of the arrival of a giraffe in France. 

Blurb from author page: 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. On this page Kate talks about her book too (5 minutes)

Awards and Honors

• ALSC Notable Children’s Book
• American Booksellers Association Indies Choice Book Awards
• American Library Association Notable Children’s Recordings
• BookBrowse Awards, Best Young Adult Book
• Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth
• Chicago Public Library Best Books for Children and Teens
• Colorado Children’s Book Award
• Delaware Diamonds Booklist
• Hudson News Best Book of the Year
• Indie Next List
• Kentucky Bluegrass Award
• Maine Student Book Award
• Minnesota Book Awards
• Parents’ Choice Award
• Publishers Weekly Cuffie Award
• Washington State Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award, Picture Books

Tonight, I have discovered there is now a movie of The Magician's Elephant. After watching the trailer the movie looks very, very different from the book. 

This page from Candlewick has a wealth of activities and an audio sample to use with The Magician's Elephant. 

Reading like a fable told long ago, with rich language that begs to be read aloud, this is a magical story about hope and love, loss and home, and of questioning the world versus accepting it as it is. Brilliant imagery juxtaposes “glowering and resentful” gargoyles and snow, stars and the glowing earth ... Kirkus

Here are a couple of text quotes:

He stood in the small patch of light making its sullen way through the open flap of the tent. He let the fortuneteller take his hand. She examined it closely, moving her eyes back and forth and back and forth, as if there were a whole host of very small words inscribed there, an entire book about Peter Augustus Duchene composed atop his palm.

Not far from the Apartments Polonaise, across the rooftops and through the darkness of the winter night, stood the Bliffendorf Opera House, and that evening upon its stage, a magician of advanced years and failing reputation performed the most astonishing magic of his career. He intended to conjure a bouquet of lilies, but instead, the magician brought forth an elephant.

The questions that mattered, the questions that needed to be asked, were these: Where did the elephant come from? And what did it mean that she had come to the city of Baltese?

I first read and talked about The Magician's Elephant (published 2009) back in 2010. Today on my train journey I re-read and devoured the whole book again and I absolutely loved it. I think I have read nearly every book written by Kate DiCamillo. She recently visited Colby Sharp's school in Parma - I loved reading about the visit and also I loved the way all of the staff embraced this visit and shared many of her books with their students.

You can see the gentle art from inside The Magician's Elephant on the illustrator web page. Here is another book illustrated by Yoko Tanaka:

Dandelion's Dream

Sparrow Girl