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

When we flew away by Alice Hoffman

Bookseller blurb: Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne's journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius. With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family's life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence. In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious and creative and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With a wisdom far beyond her years, she will become a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it. 

I have a few dilemmas about recommending this book. Yes, it is an engrossing read although at times it felt a little repetitive. But who should read this book? I think you do need to be familiar and even better to have recently read The Diary of Anne Frank. But then do fans of The Diary of Anne Frank want a book like this which, even though it has been researched, it is a work of imagination - imagining the Frank family and especially Anne in the years before the family went into hiding. I think one of my conclusions is this book should only be read after you have met Anne Frank through her diary and if you are curious about life in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation and of course you want to know a little more about the Frank family - their life and in the case of Anne her deepest thoughts.

Historical information woven into the narrative serves as time stamps as the Franks move ever closer to their life in hiding. This context is helpful for readers and offers a startling reminder of the terror that took over Europe during World War II. Ultimately, Hoffman portrays Anne and Margot as the children they truly were, gripped with fear and telling each other stories for comfort but still eager to go for bike rides, celebrate birthdays, and try to live their lives fully. This novel serves as an insightful companion for Frank’s own diary or as a stand-alone entry into a terrifying and unforgivable time in history. Kirkus

There is a QR code on this Scholastic flyer which takes you to the first chapter. Listen to an audio sample. Here are a set of questions to use with a book group. Read more plot details here. When we flew away is published in cooperation with The Anne Frank House. You can see more Adult andYA books by Alice Hoffman here. I previously read and enjoyed Night Bird. 

Use my label Anne Frank to discover other books I have shared about Anne Frank. Companion book:

(Sorry, this is now out of print)

Here is the Kirkus review

Just under the clouds by Melissa Sarno

"Then I brush my notebook off and stuff everything in, fishing around for my Tree Book. But it's not there. The worn leather, with its little ribbon tail is missing. I check the front pocket. I check the sleeve inside. I sit down on the wet ground and throw my backpack to it, opening it wide. I take all the withered papers out and stack them. I take each covered textbook and each notebook out. Purple, red, green, blue. I check the front pocket - a jumble of pens and pencils and paperclips, an eraser that feels like it's coated in sand and crumbs. I check the empty sleeve, I fan the colours, in a pinwheel, looking for the soft brown leather. Its gone."

This notebook is everything to Cora. It is her link to her father who died several years ago. Her father was Irish and mum has Mexican heritage. Cora's little sister lost oxygen to her brain during birth and so she has a fairly profound disability. Money is very tight and so the family of three keep having to move. As the story opens, they are living in a homeless shelter, but it is a very dangerous environment. After they are robbed, they move in with mum's friend. Willa seems to have a perfect life and a perfect home and so mum just needs to move again. Cora would love to stay because it is the first place in a long time that she feels safe, but they do move this time into assisted housing. Now school is even further away. 

One thing that connect Cora to her father is the drawing in his notebook of a tree he called The Heaven Tree. Cora finds the tree down by the canal. She is determined to climb it but there are no low branches. The only way seems to be through the window of a disused factory. This will be very dangerous. 

Little Adare loves cats. There is a stray cat that hangs around near the tree and near the canal. On the day Cora loses her dad's tree notebook, little Adare goes missing. Can Cora put all these puzzle pieces back together and find her little sister in time?

This is a debut novel for Melissa Sarno. Kirkus say ages 10-14 so I have listed this as a senior primary novel. Just Under the Clouds was published in 2019 but it is still available. This book will appeal to thoughtful readers who have good reading stamina and who enjoy quiet books about family relationships and children living in complex situations. 

Troubling, affecting, and ultimately uplifting, from a promising debut novelist. Kirkus

There is a delicate balance of things my readers like in a sad book. They like lots of descriptions of what life is like, but they are not as fond of the character's introspection about their situation, if that makes sense. (I spend a large part of my day involved in the nuances of what students want in a book!) This is a little slower than my students usually want, but I will probably purchase it, and this is certainly a great book to look at for most collections. Ms Yingling

Companion books - pop these titles into my sidebar:

And here are some picture books on the topic of homelessness.

This book might be in a library or available as an ebook - it also deals with the heartbreak of a disabled sister.

And this new Australian book has a World War II setting and the story centers on saving the disabled sister from capture.

Our Sister, again by Sophie Cameron

"Welcome to Project Homecoming and exclusive trial by Second Chances Ltd.

You are part of one of the most ambitious and pioneering projects ever carried out in the field of Artificial Intelligence. 

One that, if successful will change how we think about 

and experience life and death forever."

Life is a mystery and so is death but we do know that when someone dies we cannot see them again. In books there is an unwritten rule that death is never reversed or so it seems to me. In this book a young girl is 'brought' back and this has huge implications. This book will most certainly make readers think deeply about grief, death, what it means to be human and also the implications of technology in our lives.

Isla's sister has died. Mum is wrapped up in grief and so when she reads about a way to bring Flora back to 'life' she readily agrees. What does this mean? What are the implications for the family of agreeing to the Second Chances Homecoming Project. What are the implications for the community who have all signed confidentially agreements? And what about the other teenagers who were friends with Flora? They have grieved and attended her funeral and now she is back. But they are older because three years have passed. If this version of Flora is frozen in time and only has the memories. possibly unreliable memories, collected by Second Chances, is she a real person? Mum does not want to see the truth and dad is sure this is totally wrong, so he has left the family and moved away from their island home. Now that Flora is back should she go back to school? Is there any point in sitting exams? And of course, the kids in her class from before have left the school and are at college.

Is Flora person or a robot? "As Flora turns towards the harbour steps her hair falls to the side and shows the back of her pale neck. ... Carved into her skin, only just visible above her jacket, is a small square."

Is this Flora, really Flora? "The returnee has been created using vast amounts of data, in addition to photos, videos and extensive interviews with your loved one's friends and family."

"Our returnees look entirely human ... We are confident that this new arrival will be an extremely close match to the person you remember. However, please be aware that there are some differences. Returnees do not need to sleep, they cannot be fully submerged in water, (they do not need to eat), and they don't fall sick with human illnesses."

The food part about the returnee made my stomach squirm. In the first few days Flora does eat with the family but the food goes into a food compartment in her body and she has to regularly empty it. Eventually she just gives up this charade of eating. 

"Losing Flora so young made me realise that growing old is a gift not everyone gets."

Dad "doesn't think she's human ... He says you can't rebuild a soul and you can't be a human without a soul."

Exploring a number of ethical questions, Our Sister, Again is simultaneously an intriguing mystery and a moving story of grief, family bonds, and what it means to be human.  Book Trust

It's an emotional story, and heartwarming too. The Book Bag (read this full review - it is very thoughtful)

This is an incredibly powerful, compelling and absorbing read that raises issues around personhood, ethics and social media.  ... And, that ending – it brought tears and smiles – and was exquisite! Book Craic

Wolf Siren by Beth O'Brien

"I think about this chain of violence that began with human greed, the desire to take and take until the trees lost their protectors and many wolves and humans lost their lives."

Red lives in a village with her mother and younger brother and sister. The village is controlled by the mayor and by the fear of attack by the wolves who live in the forest. In past years wolves attacked the village men but not the women so, while everyone lives behind a high fence, the men especially can never leave. The mayor controls everything including the distribution of food, marriage and the dispensing of punishments.

Red's father has been killed many years ago - purportedly by a wolf. Her grandmother has also disappeared and Red has not seen her for many years but as this story opens Red does meet her grandmother in the forest. People from the village are not supposed to visit the forest but Red feels a strong affinity with the trees - they even seem to reach out and touch and caress her. Then her grandmother shows her something even more surprising. Red is able to summon a small pack of wolves. They gather around her and walk in a diamond formation. There are two women who can be found in the forest - an old lady who is suspected of witchcraft called Ms Blaeberry and the woodcutter - a woman named Caragh. It is not directly stated in the story but there is an implication that Caragh has been banished to work as a woodcutter because she refused to marry the mayor. He is so jealous of Raif because he an Caragh are in love and in fact have a plan to run away. 

The changes to Red continue when she discovers not only can she summon her wolf pack but she herself can transform into a wolf. This ability coincides with the menarche. There are all sorts of rules about girls and their periods. This is considered a dark secret and even the water she uses to wash her rags can only be disposed of after dark in a secret place. Red knows she is in great danger if anyone, especially the mayor, finds out that she can transform. Added to this is the worry that her sister, Aerona, might also be able transform too and the day of Aerona's first period is approaching. 

One of the most interesting characters in this story - that I was desperate to know more about - is the wife of the mayor. His treatment of her is an example of domestic violence but Nova also gives tiny signals to Red that seem to mean she has a deeper knowledge of her oppression. 

There are some interesting life rituals and manners explored in this book such as the way people greet each other and their procedures following a death.  Girls are also expected to wear skirts - another sign of control and oppression. 

I also loved the way, as a previously explained, the trees support Red:

The woods seemed more alive after the rain, as though the very air was releasing a sigh of pleasure. But there was something else there, too, a feeling that was much harder to identify. The tree curled her twig branches over my shoulder as though she was preparing to steady me, and I covered the rough twigs with my hand to reassure her. I turned slowly, looking from tree to tree, scanning the ground, peering up into the lower branches for whatever the woods thought deserved my focus.

Beth O'Brien uses language so skillfully.  Think about her word choices in these sentences:

"The thud of the plate and cup sounded dismal in the quiet house."

"The cacophony is beautiful, the disjointed sounds creating a melodious echo."

I recommend this book for very mature readers aged 11+. Here is a list of other "Little Red Riding Hood" based books for Young Adults aged 13+. 

Publisher blurb: Red is not allowed to go into the woods. Everyone knows that they are dangerous – because of their strange magic and the wolves that lurk there… But Red finds herself increasingly drawn to the woods and the place where her grandmother disappeared without a trace three years ago. When the woodcutter fails to return home one night and wolves are spotted close to the village boundary, fear drives a deep and dangerous divide between the villagers and the nature they live alongside. Only Red seems to hold the key – but she has a secret, and exposing it could ruin her family forever …

You can read a chapter sample on the Harper Collins (Australia) webpage. This book was published in 2025 and I picked up my print copy here in Australia from a local bookseller for AUS$18.

Here are a few text quotes:

"Father was one of many men to be taken by the wolves. Where once our village had been famous for its lucrative wolf-fur trade, courtesy of our skilled hunters, soon it was associated with nothing but violent attacks. No matter how many men the mayor conscripted to try and keep the wolves at bay, our losses continued to mount up. Shortly after my father’s death, the mayor was forced to admit defeat, disband the hunters entirely and forbid all men and boys from entering the woods. This worked in so much as the attacks stopped. But the restrictions the mayor placed on our village after that meant the fear of the wolves was impossible to forget."

"I want you to imagine there’s a wolf in front of you. She has her back to you and she’s going to stay in front of you wherever you walk.’ There was a pause as she let me form that image in my mind. ‘Now, to your left and to your right are two more. They come up to your waist and if you reach out your hands, you’d be able to brush their fur, but they are no closer than that.’ Another pause. ‘Finally, there is a fourth wolf. This one is behind you, so the four of them form a diamond."

"I turned my own face up to smile at Grandmother and saw she was holding a bundle out towards me. I stood up and my wolves parted, letting me step closer to her. It was a coat. By full daylight, it would be a vivid scarlet, but under the dappled light of the trees it looked much deeper, much darker. More like blood."

"The mayor depends on us all being frightened of the woods, whether it's fear of attack or of shame."

"Nearly all the girls and women of this village know the woods aren't a bad place. They're a place where bad things happen, ... but bad things happen within our village wall, too."

Wolf Siren is a debut novel for UK author Beth O'Brien. She is the author of four adult poetry books. Having been born visually impaired and with an upper-limb difference, Beth is passionate about the representation of disability in literature and is currently studying for a PHD researching the (mis) representation of disability in fairytale retellings. She is the founder and editor of Disabled Tales.

Here is a map of Young Adult Fairy tale retellings:

Image source: Epic Reads

I think my interest in these 'grown-up' versions of fairy tales goes back to my reading a book by Donna Jo Napoli although it was not about Red Riding Hood. 

I found this collage of versions of Little Red Riding Hood on Library Thing. When you go to the link you can hover over each title for a brief plot summary.

Image Source: Library Thing tag "Little Red Riding Hood"

I have had this book, Red, on my to-read list for a long time so this might be the next "Red Riding Hood" based story that I read:

The Other Shadow by Tania Ingram

Thomas is only ten at the start of this book, but his life is so complex. His dad has died and mum is not coping. There is no food at home and she often stays in bed all day. Thomas needs food for himself and his little sister, who is only two years old, so he is forced to beg and steal. Then one evening mum goes out and she does not come home. 

Thomas and Tilly are taken to their first foster home. The parents in that home are kind but after just two weeks Thomas and Tilly find themselves back with mum. A social worker is assigned to visit but this will only happen once a week, then once every two weeks and then the social worker goes away and no one comes for six weeks. Mum becomes very ill again and so Thomas and Tilly are taken to a different foster carer. This place is not a kind home. The older son from this family is cruel and violent. Eventually Thomas and Tilly are taken to another foster home and this one is good. The children get their lives back and there is love and food and clean clothes and a new school for Thomas which means he can and does make a fresh start. But ... then they have to go back to mum and it is clear things will again spiral out of control. 

Reading this book is a roller coaster ride. I started my reading late at night and then had to put the book down after one especially violent incident. I resumed my reading this morning desperately hoping no other truly bad things would happen to these kids. 

Terrible things do sadly happen to these children but then someone steps into help. That's the roller coaster. I cried and then I sighed. I gasped and then I felt some relief. Chapter 13 is one turning point where Thomas feels able to talk to an adult and the loss of his dad and the moods of his mum. In Chapter 20 he talks to Em his foster sister about the Other Shadow. I am a little confused about the role of the shadow - at times it feels connected with Dad because it offers some wisdom (which Thomas doesn't always follow) then at other times the shadow is a distraction. The shadow is a tall thin man with a mop of curly hair - no one else can see him and Thomas worries that seeing this shadow might be sign that he also has bipolar like his mum. 

Here's how The Book Muse explains the shadow: Throughout the novel, Thomas has an invisible friend, I guess you could call it, that he refers to as the Other Shadow who turns up at various stages throughout the book. The Other Shadow is a protector of sorts and makes Thomas feel safe at times, but at other times, he wants it to go away so he can settle and be calm again, be able to move on with his life. ... It is almost a manifestation of his worries at times, the thing that he is unsure of, and unsure of how to deal with, but there is also a sense of hope as Thomas starts to feel like he can talk to people about it 

I have read quite a few middle grade books about parents (often mothers) who have a serious mental illness. I have also read other middle grade books about the experience of living in foster care. Tania Ingram does not spare her readers in this, at times harrowing, story of Thomas and his little sister who have to navigate their complex life circumstance following the death of their dad. It seems especially hard that Mrs Douglas, the social worker, cannot offer more help but I guess that is actually the reality of our Mental Health system. I did celebrate the ending of this book but I am not going to spoil this. 

In the interest of disclosure - all of life experiences do influence us - I had a very strong reaction to this book. As a teenager I did experience very similar confusions to Thomas - I won't go into any details here, but my own family relationships made this book, at times, very hard to read. 

The reviewer at Just So Stories loved this book and she goes into a lot more plot detail: This is a book that will go straight to the heart and will remain with the reader for a very long time. I believe it is a book that will speak to those children who are in the most fraught of circumstances and will give others an insight into the tragedy of some families. ... I cannot urge you strongly enough to get hold of it – I know the cover is not one that jumps up and grabs you – but this is the time for discerning readers to look past that and walk a mile in another kid’s shoes.

I do agree it is an important book and it is sensitively told but this is a book that I would only share with very mature readers aged 11+ or better yet 12+.

Just a word of warning. The Scholastic teachers notes for this book make NO concession for class groups where a student or even more than one student has had an experience like Thomas. I was so shocked to read their suggested activities. As the child of a parent with mental health issues I would have found these tasks very confronting:

Thomas’s mother has bipolar disorder, which, while it can be well-treated with medication these days, as we see in the novel, a severe case like Thomas’s mother can also be difficult to treat because people often dislike how the medication makes them feel. How common is bipolar disorder, and how does it affect people? In pairs or small groups, research more about how it manifests, how it can be treated, and how it affects the person who has it, as well as their family, when it is untreated. What are some other mental health conditions that you have heard of? As a class, name as many of them as you can, and then write down next to each one what you know of it. In pairs or small groups, choose one mental health disorder that you have named, and research it further.

In my view these two activities are highly inappropriate for a Grade 6 Primary school class. 

Tania Ingram is an internationally published author of children’s picture books, novels and poetry. She has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and prior to becoming an author, worked as a child psychologist.

This book has been added to the CBCA 2025 Younger Readers Notables list, but I think it better suits the Older Readers category. If you are considering this book for your school library or if you received it as a part of a Standing Order package, I strongly suggest you read it yourself before recommending it to a student and I also strongly caution against using this book as a class read aloud. 

This book might make you think of the mother in Goodnight Mister Tom and also The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson. Other companion books:

Small as an elephant

The Secrets we Keep

Waiting for Normal

How I saved the world in a week

The Star outside my Window

This book explores the experiences of foster care

All the Beautiful Things by Katrina Nannestad illustrated by Martina Heiduczek

"It feels like all the beautiful things have to be hidden away ... "

"The world is a jigsaw puzzle, every person a unique piece. There's a space for each one, but it must be the space made just for them. And if we leave one piece out, no matter how small, plain, insignificant or odd it may seem, the jigsaw puzzled remains incomplete. 

The picture looks ugly because there is a gap."

In the world of Germany in 1939 to 1945 every child has to be perfect. Anna is perfect - the perfect German girl. She is athletic, clever and has that perfect blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her sister however is not perfect. She has a disability and Mutti and Anna know if little Eva is found she will be taken away. 

"Eva was born with a disability that weakens her body and makes it hard for her to learn new things. Eva didn't walk for a long time and she's still a bit wobbly. Words came much later .... It's unlikely she'll ever learn to read. And she's so very small and thin, more like a toddler than a seven-year-old."

Eva takes delight in making paper dolls. The family have to keep her hidden, but Anna is able to collect tiny treasures - a piece of lace, a ribbon, a small piece of coloured paper - and Anna weaves a magical story for Eva as they work together to create new outfits for dolly. 

"Eva fetches her square biscuit tin and returns to the kitchen table. She opens the lid and gasps with delight even though she knows exactly what's inside - Dolly, a flat cardboard doll with woollen hair and tissue paper underwear, and eight flat dresses. They're all made from scrap paper and other treasures Mutti and I have scrounged from floors, streets, bins, barns. ... Every piece of the dress needs a story."

Anna and her friend Udo work hard to keep Eva a secret but there is danger everywhere. A boy in their neighborhood - Manfred is especially dangerous. "He is fourteen, tall, strong and handsome. He is in the special patrol group, Hitler Youth's very own police." 

Woven into All the Beautiful things we meet Eva Braun, visit the countryside home of Hitler, and in some awful scenes witness the indoctrination of the children in class against anyone who is not perfect - people with disabilities, people who are different and of course Jewish people. In one scene we see brave Anna quietly taking Nazi propaganda posters from her school and at home she burns them.

Luckily Anna and Udo do find friends in their town and one of these is seamstress Fraulein Linz. Little do they know that this lovely woman will be the one to hide little Eva when it becomes too hard to keep her at home and keep her safe. Fraulein Linz is living a double life. The Nazi wives visit to have her make their beautiful clothes and she even appears to be friendly with Eva Braun but this is all just a ruse. 

"How do we tell the monsters and the angels apart?"

This book has 327 pages, and I read it all in one sitting - YES, it is that good. In fact, this book is wonderful! I actually read this book about 3 weeks ago but I just wanted to sit and think and let it settle before penning something here on my blog. I actually feel I am quite inadequate as a blogger and lover of middle grade children's books to even begin to talk about this amazing book. One of the most precious parts of this story is the emotional intelligence of young Eva. 

There are some quite terrifying scenes in this book which I think demonstrates the power of this writing. One that has lingered with me is when Anna is stopped and told to empty her pockets by a member of the Gestapo. They have been watching Udo. He is part of the resistance and their communication is via train tickets. Udo has slipped it into Anna's pocket and now Anna needs to take it to Pastor Almendinger.

"The railway station's a perfect exchange for messages. Always busy. ... I'm there all the time, looking for discarded tickets for Dolly's dresses. In fact, there are four in my pockets right now. ... 'I'd like to see what's in your pockets.' ... I stick my hands into my pockets, grab the lining at the bottoms and turn them inside out. Everything that was inside spills. The tiny folding scissors, bottle tops, acorns and buttons fall into the snow, but the wind grabs the rest and sends it fluttering along the street. Including the very important train ticket for Pastor Almendinger."  

All the Gestapo see is a collection of rubbish.  

Here are a couple of text quotes:

"We're crying for Eva, who is safe, but whose life has grown smaller yet again. How many times must her world darken and shrink? How long can she live this way without the light in her eyes fading, before hugs in her arms slacken?"

"And then I shudder. Not because of Manfred's fanaticism. That's old news. It's just I've never been called a traitor before. I realise that a person can be both a hero and a traitor. It depends on your point of view. To Eva and Mutti, I'm a hero. To Hitler and Manfred, I'm a traitor." 

All the Beautiful Things is certain to be a CBCA Younger Readers Notable, and I am also sure it will be shortlisted. Here are a set of teachers notes from the publisher. I highly recommend All the Beautiful Things for readers aged 11+. 

This is a great read, suffused with love and humour. As usual Nannestad has got the balance just right, presenting the reader with thought provoking situations while keeping them enthralled with suspense, some mystery, and lots of giggles. A must for every school  and home library. Storylinks

All the Beautiful Things is as much a story of resistance as it is about loyalty and family, but also, finding out what it means when the rules you think exist start to crumble, and your world changes in so many ways. It is a book that will make you question prejudices and what we assume disabled people are like, and ponder how we can help people who need it. And I think makes us ask ourselves what we would do if we ever found ourselves in a similar situation. Another wonderful novel from Katrina Nannestad. The Book Muse

History can be tough to understand, especially when it comes to things like war and prejudice. But Nannestad takes the real stories of the past and wraps them up in a way that is both accessible and heartwarming for kids. You’ll not only get to see the struggles of people who lived through WWII, but you’ll also learn about what it was like to be different in a world where difference meant danger. Better Reading

Some things to think about:

• It is interesting that Katrina named Anna's little sister Eva and Anna also meets and 'befriends' the famous Eva Braun. 
• When you read a book like this as a reader you put your trust in the author that there will be a 'happy ending' and that characters you love will be kept safe. What happens if this 'rule' is broken?

In November I attended a terrific 'fireside' chat at Gleebooks Kids with Katrina Nannestad.  Here are some things I discovered:

• Katrina will appear at our Sydney Writer's Festival in May 2025
• Her favourite character from her books so far is Udo (from All the Beautiful Things) and also Sasha from Rabbit Angel Soldier Thief
• Silver Linings is her personal family story and a sequel is planned
• Katrina reads and researches history through personal accounts. She likes to find lesser-known stories of World War II
• She plots her stories and has a clear plan of the way the plot will be structured
• When Katrina is writing one of her novels, she writes every day of the week and often becomes totally absorbed in the journey of her characters. Each book from this series takes 8-9 months to write.
• Her new books - another Lottie Perkins title and a new series about a character named Frances Bloom.

In November Katrina Nannestad ran a competition where people sent in their own paper doll creations. Take a look here.

After reading All the Beautiful Things you will want to read every book by Katrina Nannestad especially her stories set during World War II -   

Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief; Waiting for the Storks; We are Wolves

Here are some other companion books:

The Little Riders

I am reading this one at the moment so I will talk further about it here in the coming weeks. 

Check out the Kirkus review.

The Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram illustrated by Ruth Brown

In this story there are three sisters. Two are horrid and very horrid and the third is named "Too Nice". Little Too-Nice is lonely, but her horrible sisters reject her and then, to get rid of her, they set a challenge that she must visit Baba Yaga and bring back a Toad in a jewelled jacket with a diamond collar. Too-Nice has a little doll that her mother gave her before she died. She asks the little doll for advice.

"put me in your pocket, listen to my advice whenever I have any and let's set out."

Too-Nice knocks on the door of Baba Yaga. The witch invites her in and tells her to wash the mountain of dishes by morning. If she fails, she will be cooked in the cauldron. Too-Nice works hard but there is no way she can complete all of this by morning. Her Doll tells her to rest and magically in the morning all the dishes are clean and stacked in neat piles. 

BUT as you would expect with any traditional tale there are more tasks ahead - three in total. Next the witch tells Too-Nice to sift through the dirt in the garden to find all the poppy seeds. This is another impossible task which her Doll is able to complete. The third challenge is to lay out the food and answer the important question.

"Now answer me correctly, or you will be my first course. What was it you came here for?"

How should she answer this question and will her answer mean she can take that toad home to her awful sisters and if she does give them the toad what on earth might happen next? Is there a way for this story to have that all important happy ending?

I read a few things about Baba Yaga:

• Baba Yaga is a witch or ogress from Slavic folklore who lives in a magical hut in the forest and either helps, imprisons, or eats people (usually children).
• Although she is usually the villain of any piece she appears in, she can also offer assistance and is understood as more of a trickster character who encourages transformation than the stock figure of an evil witch.
• Baba Yaga is probably best known from the story Vasilissa the Beautiful in which she inadvertently frees the heroine from the tyranny of her stepmother and stepsisters
• Baba Yaga is depicted as an enormous, ugly old woman who lives in a hut built on four tall chicken legs that can turn about or relocate on command. She is often seen draped over her stove or reclining in the hut across the entire expanse, with her large nose touching the ceiling. 
• There are a number of tales in which she acts as an agent of transformation, helping the heroine or hero toward self-actualization and the completion of a quest.

And a few things about Vasilissa the Beautiful:

• Vasilissa lives happily with her mother and father until she is eight years old when her mother falls ill and calls her to her deathbed, giving her a magical doll to help her through life. 
• She must always keep the doll with her, a secret from everyone else, and offer it food and drink whenever she faces some challenge in order to receive help.
• After her mother’s death, her father marries a woman with two daughters who is envious of Vasilissa’s beauty and abuses her, giving her harsh tasks, which her father can do nothing about since he is away on business trips. Vasilissa is only able to accomplish these tasks through the help of her doll.
• In hopes of getting rid of Vasilissa, her stepmother keeps sending her into the woods on errands: finally, Vasilissa is sent directly to Baba Yaga’s hut to ask for fire.
• Baba Yaga demands to know why the girl is there and agrees to give her fire in return for work. She assigns Vasilissa impossible tasks, which she is able to accomplish with her doll’s help.
• Baba Yaga sends her home with a skull containing the fire she was sent to fetch, and once it is brought into the house, it burns the evil stepmother and stepsisters to ashes.
• Baba Yaga acts as the catalyst for transformation. The doll performs all the impossible tasks given to Vasilissa, but it is Baba Yaga who assigns them, who warns the girl against asking too many questions (and so saves her from probing too far into dangerous territory), and who provides her with the skull that sets her free from her stepmother’s cruel tyranny.

Nearly all of these plot points are included in The Wise Doll. I am also sure you can easily make connections between this story and fairy tales like Cinderella. 

Good Reads blurb: A memorable Russian fairy tale to entrance and enchant. Ruth Brown's stunning illustrations accompany an extraordinary fairy tale about a little girl who, with the advice of her wise doll, escapes a truly terrifying witch and her slimy, child-gobbling toads. When Too Nice's evil sisters, Horrid and Very Horrid, force her to kidnap the witch Baba Yaga's jeweled toad, Baba Yaga devises a series of impossible tests for the little girl. If Too Nice passes them, she gets the toad, but if she doesn't -- the toad gets her Too Nice's only companion through the ordeal is the wise doll in her pocket, a gift from her mother, whose help leads to the miraculous completion of the tasks.

Superb artwork enhances this offbeat, minimalist retelling of the old Russian folktale in which Baba Yaga the witch is outwitted by an innocent little girl, with the help of a magic doll bequeathed to her by her now-dead mother. ... excellent witchy stuff. Kirkus

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything asked me to read The Wise Doll. She had it on her Halloween book display for over 3 weeks but sadly no child selected it for borrowing - should she keep this book in her library? Her copy is the first cover shown above.

Case for YES

• This is such a satisfying story which shows the rewards of hard work, bravery and trust.
• I love books about dolls and the idea that this doll has magical power bestowed by her late mother adds a beautiful emotional layer.
• The ending and final words are perfect.
• This book has the most OUTSTANDING illustrations. I cannot think of a book with a better or more scary witch illustration. 
• I think the first cover above is appealing - much better than the second cover from a more recent (out of print) edition. 

Here is a review: ‘Oram has a gift for pithy turns of phrase, compressing description into action and dialogue.  She has retold this story in eminently oral language. ... this is folklore justice as its finest.  Looking for stories with strong female protagonists?  Tell this one.’ Janice del Negro, editor The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books USA.

The Wise Doll reminded me of this book (which is one I adore to read aloud):

I have been a huge fan of Ruth Brown's illustrations from the time I discovered A Dark Dark Tale (1981) which I read to hundreds of young children in my school library (1984-2017). 

And I also love so many books by Hiawyn Oram especially In the Attic illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. I also highly recommend her little junior book series 'Animal heroes' also sadly long out of print.