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

Winter: An alphabet acrostic by Steven Schnur illustrated by Leslie Evans

Before you get excited about this book it is from 2002 and so it is long out of print. I was lucky to spy it at a recent charity book sale. In fact I very nearly hid it because it was priced at AUS$4 and I thought it might still be available on Sunday (today) for half price - and YES it was. It seems this book did not appeal to the hundreds of people who were at the fair and who flicked through all the numerous children's book boxes. Lucky me!

Is it too much to combine winter with the alphabet and then also employ that very overused poetry form of the acrostic? No it is not. This book is a delight and it also has linocut style illustrations which are very appealing. At first glance I thought this book might be Candian - they do produce fantastic books in Canada but it is not - Steven Schnur is from the US. I have discovered this book is one from a series one for each season (see below). Leslie Evans is a printmaker and illustrator located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Sea Dog Press is the letterpress studio where she creates her illustration and hand pulled prints.

See more pages inside this book here

Here are some brief teachers notes to use if you do find a copy of Winter: An alphabet acrostic.

Crystals

Of ice as delicate as

Lace ring the

Duck pond

Gusts of wind rattle the windows

As we sit by the fire

Matching puzzle pieces and

Eating popcorn

The acrostics in this book are well written (by an adult) and so fit the subject matter perfectly but I do caution against using this form as the only way to inspire students to write their own poetry.

Take a look at this article from a teacher about moving children on from using acrostics:

As soon as I start talking about their writing this poem, it is usually followed by the question “Can I just write an acrostic poem?” It takes time, energy, effort, strong mentor texts, and exposing students to great poetry to create a classroom of poetry writers who stretch themselves beyond the acrostic poem.

The Night Raven by Johan Rundberg translated by Annie Prime

"Everyone in the city has heard of the Night Raven. The murderer was on the loose for four years. The first victim was a girl a couple of years older than Mika, then two men murdered in the same way. The nickname came from the way the criminal seemed to flutter aimlessly through the night, swooping down on innocent unfortunates ... In the end the killer was caught red-handed, a vagrant named John Almgren."

Mika has lived in the orphanage her whole life. It is not unusual for babies to be deposited on the doorstep but the arrival of this baby after midnight seems very strange - almost sinister. Mika can have no idea that the arrival of this baby girl will set off an amazing chain of events that will see her working with a local, rather eccentric police detective, to solve an infamous series of murders in Stockholm. 

The terrified boy who hands Mika the baby stays long enough to say "The Dark Angel knows I am the one who took her." 

Mika has amazing powers of observation. She sees a figure lingering in the shadows. She notices the baby has a braided leather band decorated with tiny red flowers tied around her ankle. Neither of these mysteries, however, are solved in this first installment. And this mystery deepens when the band disappears and Amelia, who is in charge at the orphanage, seems to be holding an even deeper secret.

Mika works in a bar pouring beer for men who can become violent as they become more inebriated. She overhears some men talking about the city murders and the criminal named The Night Raven. He is supposed to now be dead - having been captured and executed - but note my word 'supposed'. Mika is interviewed by a police man and then a detective arrives with more questions before he takes her away in his carriage to a graveyard where he shows her a dead body in a crypt. Is this the man who gave her the newly born baby? No. Then the detective comes again and this time he takes her to visit the gaol.

Here are a few text quotes:

"And sometimes you have to laugh at the thing that scares you most. Life will be what it will be, regardless,"

"I thought you said he was alive when you arrived? ... Barely. We came just in time to hear his last words. He said ... that the Night Raven had come for him."

"I have to pay attention to detail all the time because my life depends on it."

Here is a great description of Detective Valdemar Hoff:

"The first thing she sees is a scarred face half hidden behind a scruffy beard. Bush eyebrows and a nose as bumpy and brown as a seed potato. His body is thickset and reminds Mika of the unfortunate bears she saw once at Norrbro Bazaar. Hands stick out of his coat sleeves are as big as toilet lids. His knuckles are dented with poorly healed cuts and scabs. The ring finger and pinky on his left hand appear to have been severed at the knuckle."

Bookseller blurb: Mika is not your average twelve-year-old-and she's about to prove it. It's 1880, and in the frigid city of Stockholm, death lurks around every corner. Twelve-year-old Mika knows that everyone in her orphanage will struggle to survive this winter. But at least the notorious serial killer the Night Raven is finally off the streets...or is he? Mika is shocked when a newborn baby is left at the orphanage in the middle of the night, by a boy with a cryptic message. Who is he? And who is this "Dark Angel" he speaks of? When a detective shows up, Mika senses something even more sinister is going on. Drawn in by Mika's unique ability to notice small details-a skill Mika has always used to survive-the gruff Detective Hoff unwittingly recruits her to help him with his investigation into a gruesome murder. Mika knows she should stay far, far away, and yet...with such little hope for her future, could this be an opportunity? Maybe, just maybe, this is Mika's chance to be someone who matters.

A thrilling and thoughtful period murder mystery. Kirkus Star review

Over the past decades, dark Scandinavian mysteries, both historical and contemporary, have become popular, and The Night Raven brings the genre to a younger readership. Despite the gruesome deaths, the violence and threats, and the Dickensian urban setting, the descriptions and events are age appropriate, (keeping) most of the violence off the page. Historical Novel Society

The Night Raven is a smart page-turner that’s a bit dark and full of mystery. Rundberg’s pacing is spot-on, and translator A.A. Prime has done a fantastic job making the book accessible to and English-speaking audience. It’s a smooth translation that doesn’t read like one. Cracking the Cover

Johan Rundberg is an award-winning author of children’s books who lives in Stockholm. He has written picture books, early readers, and middle grade, including Kärlekspizzan, Knockad Romeo, and the series Häxknuten. In 2021, he was awarded Sweden’s most prestigious literary prize, the August Prize, in the children’s and YA category for Nattkorpen, the original edition of The Night Raven, which was first written in Swedish. Nattkorpen was also the winner of a Swedish Crimetime Award in the children’s and YA category. There are now four books in this series published in Sweden.

All the books have a stand-alone mystery that is solved in the end. But there is also a storyline that runs throughout the series, so reading the books in order really gives the reader a bigger experience. For example, Mika’s journey to find out about her past is one such storyline, that is revealed bit by bit. Also, both Mika’s character as well as her relationship with Constable Hoff develops during the series, and that is another reason to read the books in order, I think. But it’s all up to the reader. The Night Raven works really well as a stand-alone, but I hope it will make the reader curious to continue.

A. A. Prime (Annie Prime) is an award-winning translator of Swedish literature. She was born in London and traveled the world studying a number of languages before settling in the English coastal town of Hastings. She now works full-time as a translator, specializing in the weird, witty, and wonderful world of children’s and young adult fiction. She holds an MA in translation from University College London and has published more than twenty books in the UK and US. 

I loved this book from the Moonwind Mysteries series so now I plan to read all of them! There are three in the series in English but there are or will be two more in Swedish (Book 4 is published but Book 5 is still underway) - the most recent one was published this year in 2025. In Swedish the series is called Månvind & Hoff. Book one has the title Nattkorpen (2020).

I highly recommend this book for readers aged 11+ and even adults too. When my adult friends discuss the books they have been reading and enjoying I am often left out of the conversation. I dream of the day that an adult asks me to recommend a middle grade or young adult book that they also might like to read - this book The Night Raven is one I would most certainly rave about. I read this book on a Kindle in one sitting on a short flight to a nearby city. 

Here is an interview with Johan Rundberg where he talks about the first book The Night Raven.

I also found this site which expands the map of Stockholm which appears in this book. This could be a great starting point if you visit the city and want to follow Mika's journey across her city.  And here are some discussion questions. 

Here are the Swedish and Danish covers:

The Cave by Victor Kelleher

"no fire burns forever, and the Beast is always out there, waiting. 

No, something more was needed it they were to claim victory."

For a few hours yesterday I was living in the world of Paleolithic man. Fire is a precious commodity; tools are treasures made by skilled members of the community and I watched as bows and arrows were discovered and refined. I really was there - the writing in this book is so evocative of place and time and most of all harsh weather conditions. 

Irian and Ulana have seen their families massacred by a creature they call the Beast. 

"The eyes a golden yellow, almost beautiful in their sheer savagery; the fur of the head a snout patterned with the ugly scars of old wounds; and the fangs! Ivory white, and more like tusks than actual teeth, they curved down past its lower jaw and ended in jagged spikes."

It is late Autumn, and the Winter will be bitterly cold and dangerous. Ulana has been injured in her own confrontation with the Beast and Irian is so traumatized he has lost the power of speech. The pair are hopelessly underprepared for their journey, and they have no fixed destination except to get away from the cave where they have lived all their lives. Cave dwellers live precarious lives constantly on watch for the Beast and other huge predators such as the Pard. They use fire for cooking of course but also for protection. As the story opens Irian and his father have the task of maintaining the fire through the night but exhaustion overcomes them, they fall asleep and the Beast attacks. 

"For a mere split second, he glimpsed a scene of carnage; a nightmare vision of strewn bodies, of smashed pots and weapons, all of them corpse-grey in the uncertain dawn. Then the whole scene was replaced by a huge head and a great scared face, no more than an arm's length away."

The two young people on their own could never survive their journey or escape all the dangers that surround them except for the help of Trug. Trug is an old loner woman who survives by trading. She is a skilled traveler, and she carries a huge bag filled with all manner of tools. After their meeting she is able to help Ulana, whose wounds have begun to fester. Then she helps the friends make a shelter and together they survive a violent storm. Ulana is heading to the flint fields for trading. In spite of her grumbling, she teaches Irian and Ulana how to trade and by the end of that visit both have warm coats and more importantly Irian has discovered his own skill as a tool maker. Irian meets an old reclusive man who has brilliant tool making skills but sadly he dies. With his dying breath he gifts Irian some small strange very small weapons. 

"A tiny thing. A sliver of stone, no more, but chipped into a strangely curved shape that gave it a beauty and mystery that made it stand out from the rest. ... What used could there be for such a tiny weapon?"

I loved the care people take with transporting fire and the discovery that Trug finally shares about using a flint to make fire rather than need to rely on occasional lightning strikes and burning bushes. 

"she pulled apart the clay ball, splitting it neatly in two. At its core lay a tiny bed of hot coals. With two sticks, tong-style, she removed one of these tiny spots of glowing red and placed it carefully in the grassy nest. Working quickly now, she closed up the clay ball, preserving the rest of the coals; then folded the nest on itself and blew gently on it. Puffs of smoke immediately billowed out, followed by a spurt of flame that grew and grew."

There are also interesting issues in this book about kindness, sharing, trade, using your gifts and talents and trust.

If you read this book with a class I am sure you and your students will notice the way Victor Kelleher weaves in the seasons as a plot device moving from the dangers of Winter (danger and despair) through Spring (hope) to Summer (good times ahead). 

"Within minutes the temperature plunged and they were caught in a complete white-out that transformed even the closest trees and rocks into indistinct ghosts. The driven show, in the form of tiny ice crystals, stung their faces and hands; while the intense cold bit into their very bones and made each breath a form of torture. Worst of all was the wind, cutting and cruel ... "

The Cave just has to be a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Notable title either in Older Readers or perhaps Younger Readers. This book might better suit readers aged 12+ or very mature readers aged 11+. The print size is quite small. You will see in the reviews below that the age recommendations do vary widely. Our Australian journal Reading Time said Grades 4-6; Buzz Words said 12+; and Kids' Book Review say 10+.  There is a one scene in the story where Trug tells Ulana to be very careful at the flint fields. Ulana is a pretty girl and the men there could be dangerous.  Check chapter 7. 

Don’t miss this outstanding novel that will leave you as enriched in knowledge as were the characters of the story from their journey. Kids' Book Review

The cave is a scary adventure story. The little group have to travel through snow, rain and flood, always on the alert to danger from leopards and other wild creatures. Along the journey, Irian has to rediscover his selfhood and find the courage to stand tall and take his place in the world. There are strong moral lessons about caring for others, sharing knowledge, and working together for the better of the community. Read Plus

Kelleher laces the fairly straightforward text with hints of more complex philosophical tension—Ulana’s utilitarian idealism favours sharing resources and knowledge, while Trug relies on more defensive trade tactics, with Irian suspended between them, fighting his own demons and slowly fostering a sense of purpose in the aftermath of losing his known world. Books+Publishing quoted on Facebook.

Kelleher creates a prehistoric world in a way that is both familiar and unfathomable. He leads the characters on a journey where the descriptive writing is detailed enough that the reader can easily imagine being on the journey with them. The characters he has created are so unique, so individual and so enjoyable that they will each stay with the reader long after the final page has been read. Buzz Words

Reading The Cave I kept thinking about earlier books by Victor Kelleher. Sadly, these are both long out of print. If you are lucky one or both of these might still be held in your school or local library. I adored both of these when I read them many decades ago.

Companion books:

This is the first book in a series called "Chronicles of Ancient Darkness" 

I highly recommend these books.

Tarin of the Mammoths

Also try to find these two non-fiction books - they are so interesting:

Cave Paintings

Ancestory

Also look for this book recently written by Victor Kelleher:

Wanderer

One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth

"One winter's night it was so cold it began to snow. ... He made himself some hot cocoa and got ready for bed. Suddenly, Percy heard a tapping sound. There was somebody at the door."

On the doorstep Percy, the Park Keeper, finds a very cold and miserable squirrel. Naturally Percy invites him to come inside. Just as they settle down, though, there is another knock at the door. 

Very young children respond well to patterns in stories. I am sure you have anticipated both the pattern here and the dilemma as more and more of the park animals arrive to shelter with Percy. 

"The animals pushed and shoved and rolled around the bed, but there was just not enough room for all of them."

Luckily there is one more visitor - the mole emerges from under the floor - but I bet you can't guess how he 'solves' the problem.

One Snowy Night was first published in 1989. My copy from a recent charity book sale is a 2019 reprint. Here are some other books by Nick Butterworth about Percy. I think there are more than 30 altogether including board books, activity books, individual picture books and bind-up versions. In this video Nick Butterworth reads After the Storm:

The Snow Knows by Jennifer McGrath illustrated by Josée Bisaillon

The snow knows

Where the rabbit goes

The snow knows

Where the pheasant sleeps ...

The snow knows where the porcupine ponders

and where the weasel bounds up and down.

Australian children who read this book will encounter lots of unfamiliar animals - and that is one of the joys of this simple tale. Each page also works like a game of hide and seek where your young reading companion can see a small visual hint of the creature on the next page. Lynx, otter, fox, partridge and coyote. I especially love the trees in the illustrations which I think might be larch. This is a perfect book to share on a cold winter day (even though here in Sydney we do not have snow!)

See more illustrations here

Here is the website for the illustrator Josée Bisaillon.  The Snow Knows is the winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. I was excited to see many previous winners have been featured here on my blog. I have put a few at the bottom of this post. 

This is a Canadian picture book published in 2016. It is a title from our Premier's Reading Challenge K-2 list [603347]. This book also contains examples of alliteration and onomatopoeia.

A beautiful book, destined to be a perennial winter favourite, and read aloud by a crackling fire. CBC

Previous winners of the Marilyn Baillie Picture book award from this blog. Pop any title into my search bar for more details. 

A Home in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

"There are two supporting actors (in this story) - the blustery wind and the barn itself. I knew my challenge would be to make the wind visible and give a muted voice to the barn. I chose drifting leaves and slightly bent grasses, cornstalks, and trees to suggest the presence of the wind. For the barn I decided on the colour red, to speak to its essential role as a place of warmth and safety." - Jerry Pinkney

It is warm and snug in the barn but it is also noisy and slightly chaotic and just now a new calf has been born. The barn is a shelter from the freezing winter for the farm animals (cows, horses, chickens, a cat, pigs and goats) but also for the field mice, insects and swallows. When I lived in Canada I was fascinated by all the red barns. They look like they belong in a storybook - and here it is! And when you stretch out the cover of this book you can see all of the animals who have moved inside.

This never-before-published picture book from beloved children’s book author Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952) tells the comforting, snowy story of animals seeking shelter from the cold in a big warm barn. This book was published in 2018. 

This one is filled with the glory of Jerry Pinkney’s genial, radiant, captivating artwork. Every page is a splendor. Orange Marmalade Books

Pinkney’s luminous watercolor-and-pastel illustrations create a cozy environment for the animals, using a double-page–spread format, a large trim size, and a thoughtful design. Tiny details are hidden in the pages, such as a grasshopper perched on a dried cornstalk and a line of ants marching toward the barn, and sound effects from some of the animals are also integrated into the illustrations. An artist’s note gives interesting, specific details about Pinkney’s artistic process. Kirkus

Have you met Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021) - by that I mean are you familiar with his unique and wonderful illustrations? I was so lucky to see him at a USBBY conference in 2019. 

Jerry Pinkney was "widely acclaimed for his picture books honoring his Black heritage as well as for his richly detailed works reimagining well-loved fairy and folktales," noted Publishers Weekly. His version of The Lion & the Mouse by Aesop was awarded the Caldecott Medal, and his books also received five Caldecott Honor citations. He was recognized with two lifetime achievement awards: the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now known as the Children’s Literature Legacy Award) and the Coretta Scott King Virginia Hamilton Award. Harper Collins

This is another of those bargain books I picked up from a large bookstore in our city. They have culled their children's books acquired in 2018 and earlier. A Home in the Barn has been waiting for a new home since December 2018. The price may have been the factor - it was AUS$30 but with the 50% off sale my copy was way more affordable. And it has a dust jacket and is printed on high quality paper. The price of this book is now way beyond the budget of any school library at AUS$40. 

The Big Freeze by Pippa Curnick

 

Llamas are not fans of Summer it is way too hot especially since they are already wearing warm coats but luckily after Summer comes Winter. Winter is the perfect season for llamas. Winter also means the Winter Woolly Party where everyone wears their fabulous, patterned sweaters. Granny Brock's shop is the very best place to buy a wonderful new sweater. This year this is especially urgent once Sharma and Bahama have discovered the moths have chomped right through their old woollies. The problem is the weather has now turned nasty and the shop is far away. The roads are covered in ice and snow and inevitably there is a terrible crash. 

Sharma and Bahama to the rescue. They just need to convince all the other animals that, with teamwork, they can build a new vehicle using pieces of the broken cars, ice cream truck and bicycles. 

"One little push and the snowmobile swept down the hill towards Granny Brock's shop." 

But oh no when they arrive, they see there is a huge line of others also waiting for new sweaters and by the time the friends reach the front of the queue Granny Brock has run out of stock. Time for another round of teamwork!

This is an inexpensive paperback book which you could add to your library. Fans of all those llama and alpaca books by Matt Cosgrove are sure to enjoy this book too. 

The Big Freeze is the perfect companion book to read before or after Frank's Red Hat.

Pippa Curnick is the author of this series:

And the illustrator of this series:

A Swallow in Winter - A Christmas Miracle by Timothée de Fombelle illustrated by Thomas Campi

"Sitting in his van for hours, he would brood over the great unrest of our times, how everything had gone to rack and ruin, invaded, unrecognisable."

"This call, Gloria sensed, was intended for her alone and for her freedom. Somebody was waiting for her, up north."

"Gloria was determined to understand everything. Sorrow, loves, wars, even children's games. During her long voyages in springtime and at the summer's end, Gloria roamed battlefields and burnt-out residential blocks. She followed wedding processions and families taking to the road in search of peace."

Every so often I read a book that just makes me sigh with happiness and marvel at the power and wonder of storytelling. With a book like this one - A Swallow in Winter - I want to rush out and buy a handful of copies to keep in my bag - why? Because I would love to thrust this book (and others such as Wishtree by Katherine Applegate and Captain Rosalie also by Timothee de Fombelle) into the hands of adults who challenge my love of children's books, who scoff at my passion for reading, almost exclusively, books written for children. At nearly every social occasion, especially over Christmas, I endure this kind of censure and I guess you can tell it annoys me.

I have listed this book as a French picture book but really it is a novella. It is a small, almost hand-sized volume with full colour and full page rich illustrations. A Swallow in Winter was written in 2019 in French and translated by Sarah Ardizzone into English in 2022. The French title is Quelqu'un m'attend derrière la neige. Take a look here to see inside this book. 

There are three narrative threads in this story. The swallow from the title has decided not to follow her instinct to fly south and instead she has headed to the North on this cold snowy winter night. Her decision has come following an accident many years ago where she crashed into the coloured window of a church. Later we discover her name is Gloria.

The second narrative thread is where we meet a man who drives an ice cream van. Freddy d'Angelo has worked for the gelato company - Pepino & schultz for thirty-seven years. It is Christmas Eve and he is driving from Genoa to London. His van contains six hundred tubs in two flavours - almond milk and chestnut. 

"Freddy had been counting. It would soon be a hundred days since anybody had spoken to him properly."

So we have a tiny bird flying through the cold night. We have a lonely man in his truck who has never even tasted the ice cream he delivers. But what of the third narrative thread? Sorry dear reader but I am not going to share this with you. I will only say the ending of this story is sure to surprise, delight and shock you. At the end of this small volume Timothee de Fombelle will take you to an extraordinary story destination. 

Thomas Campi is an Italian illustrator. One critic said "Delicately put into images by the Italian cartoonist Thomas Campi, who produces almost every two pages of superb illustrations in warm and rich colours, this text proves to be as unclassifiable as its heroes."

This might be a spoiler but take a close look at this illustration:

In this short French video, Timothee de Fombelle reads from his book - and you can hear a soft sound track of Frank Sinatra which Freddy, the truck driver, plays on his old cassette player all year round.

When the three destinies meet, it seems their search for hope, belonging and kindness has finally ended. An atmospheric and heart-warming story, perfect for this very special time of year. Reading Zone