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

Orris and Timble: The Beginning by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Carmen Mok

Orris is an enterprising rat. He has made himself a cosy nest in a hole in a wall of an old barn. He has one comfortable slipper which he uses as a bed. The walls are covered with paper from old books and he has a yellow marble and a sardine can. 

On the label there is a picture of a king, and it seems as though he is looking straight into the eyes of Orris.

Orris hears the cries of a young owl who has become trapped in a rat trap in the barn. What should Orris do? Owls, even young ones like Timble, eat rats like Orris but then again, the king on his sardine tin keeps saying:

"Make the good and noble choice"

Can a small rat set an owl free? What might happen next? How does the telling of stories help these two find a way to solve their dilemma?

The last page of this book made my heart sing!

Oh, and find some butterscotch sweets to enjoy after you close the cover on this truly special book about friendship, kindness and courage. 

A simple tale about looking beneath surfaces that’s as sweet as butterscotch candy. Kirkus Star review

On Instagram Carmen Mok wrote about Orris and Timble and she said the highlights of reading this book in her family are:

• The charming and relatable character Orris the rat has a curmudgeonly exterior but a good heart.
• The lesson about choosing kindness, even when it’s hard or potentially dangerous.
• Beautiful watercolor illustrations by Carmen Mok bring the characters and setting to life.
• The book subtly highlights the power of storytelling in forming friendships.
• DiCamillo’s trademark ability to create heartwarming stories filled with real emotion makes it a perfect read for children and adults alike.

I would add to this list the delightful names of the two characters, 

You probably already know I am a huge fan of ALL books by Kate DiCamillo. I have read her two new books just this week. Along with loving her work I am also always on the hunt for books like Orris and Timble - junior or easy chapter books, with illustrations, short chapters and most importantly of all - a very satisfying story. Orris and Timble ticks all these boxes and it should be added to your library NOW so it can sit alongside these books about other unlikely friends. I do recommend shopping around for a good price here in Australia. I have seen this book listed between AUS$20 and AUS$35.  

Check out my posts with the label 'Unlikely Friends'

Here is the website for the illustrator Carmen Mok. You can see inside Orris and Timble here. Watch a five minute video with Kate DiCamillo and Carmen Mok.

Blurb from Candlewick: Orris the rat lives alone in an old barn surrounded by his treasures, until the day his solitude is disrupted by a sudden flutter of wings and a loud screech. A small owl has gotten caught in a trap in the barn. Can Orris “make the good and noble choice” (as the king on his prized sardine can might recommend) and rescue the owl, despite the fact that owls and rats are natural enemies? And if he does, will he be ready for the consequences?

On each page of this book Carmen Mok adds a hand drawn frame with some delicate flowers beside the page number. It is a tiny detail, but it added to my delight over the design of this book. Here are some other books illustrated by Canadian illustrator Carmen Mok:

The second book from this series will be published in May 2025.

We sell a brand of sardines here in Australia which also features a king. This image could be a way to introduce this book to your library group.

After reading Orris and Timble try to find a copy of The Lion and the Mouse - either a picture book edition or from an Aesop anthology.

You can see inside this book here

Also take a look at the website of books by Brian Wildsmith

I also need to mention a long out of print book which features a rat (a little like Orris). I hope this book can be found in your local or school library - it is a perfect one for readers aged 8+. 

Walter

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a Pinterest collection of stories that feature rats. 

The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Julia Sarda

Begin here with this audio sample from chapter one. When you listen, you will hear the delicious language choices used by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo - beguiling brilliance, the porcelain of the skink, overstuff sofas strewn with cushions of green and gold, the room was fille to overflowing with light almost as if someone were ... pouring molten gold, perpetually occupied. 

Marta and her mother live in the attic of the Hotel Balzaar.

"And on the dresser was her mother's brush, and beside that was an envelope that was stained and worn smooth from handling. Marta's mother's name was written on the envelope - Elena Buchelli. And below her name was Marta's name - Marta Buchelli. The exact words Marta's father had written on the envelope were: And Marta Buchelli too, of course. How Marta loved those words: of course. Of course."

"It had been over a year since they had heard anything from her father. In the meantime, Marta and her mother had moved from one place to another, trying to survive."

 There are hints in the story that her mother, who works as a maid, is not really allowed to have her child living with her. Her father is missing. All Marta has that worn out letter. Almost every day her mother instructs Marta:

"You must be quiet, quiet, Marta. Like a mouse. Do not let yourself me charmed ... 'Say you understand, Marta,' said her mother. 'I understand,' said Marta. But she did not understand. She did not understand at all."

Marta lives in a small world. There is their attic room and the one hundred and twenty-eight stairs, the hotel lobby with a clock that has a cat chasing a mouse and a painting which seems to have one wing that looks like an angel. The hotel doorman Norman does acknowledge and talk to Marta but the receptionist Alphonse pretends she does not exist. Then one day a mysterious guest arrives at the hotel. 

"Right before the clock struck noon, there was a commotion in the lobby. A gust of cold air entered, and with it came an old woman dressed in red - red shoes, a red hat and a red dress. She was leaning on a cane, and on her should there perched a massive green-feathered parrot."

Marta will now break all her mother's rules because the old woman, who calls herself a Countess, invites Marta to come to her room. Marta meets her parrot named Blitzkoff. The Countess says he can speak but Marta never hears him instead the Countess tells Marta a series of six stories. At first it seems these stories are unconnected, and they all seem to be unresolved, but Marta listens carefully and you, the reader, will read carefully, because there are connections that can be made here, and the final untold story will be the most important one of all. 

Readers, too, will enjoy piecing together the connections among the stories and will be encouraged to seek deeper truths about people and the world around them. ... A delightful, thoughtful escape to a magical world. Kirkus

I am not sure I would use The Hotel Balzaar for a classroom study - it feels like such a personal reading experience but if you skim through these teachers notes from the publisher you will gain more insights into the plot and you will see some of the glorious art by Julia Sarda. If you are looking for a present for a keen reader aged 9+ pop this book onto your list - the hardcover edition with a dust jacket would be a very special gift. 

The setting for this heartfelt story is not specified but it feels like a European city and a time perhaps fifty or more years ago. This is the second of a planned set of three books or novellas called Norendy Tales. I previously talked about The Puppets of Spelhorst. The third book will be released next year. I love the way each book features a different illustrator - book one Julie Morstad; book two Julia Sarda. I wonder who will illustrate the third Norendy Tale? Every school and public library should add this set of books to their collection alongside EVERY book by Kate DiCamillo (you probably already know I am a huge fan). Here is a long video interview where you can hear Kate talk about her book. Read this review.

The Puppets of Spelhorst

The Hotel Balzaar uses the Countess for her storytelling prowess, consolidating all stories into her character. The Puppets of Spelhorst, in contrast, integrates a multitude of characters to tell stories. Even with these two different story telling mechanisms, the story within a story pattern is consistent between the two Norendy Tales. Both feature a plot arc stretched out from story to story to story, all culminating in one fell swoop with heartwarming endings. This strategy is extremely tricky to execute, particularly for the short format of middle grade reading material. The ease with which DiCamillo whips out these two editions reinforces why DiCamillo is the supremely successful queen of this genre ... In both of these books the illustrations are abundant and add intrigue and depth to the telling of the story; both the narrative and the images pull equal weight. Both titles, it’s safe to say, are true reader delights. New York Journal of Books

Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

"Every story is a love story. Every good story is a love story."

Ferris (real name Emma Phineas Wilkey) was born under the amusement park Ferris Wheel ten years ago. Her grandmother was there to witness the event and Ferris is sure she can remember the moment her grandmother, Charisse, caught her. 

I guess if you think about it every family is a little bit eccentric, but Ferris sure does have an interesting cast of characters in her life. 

Charisse, her grandmother, is a central figure in Ferris's life. They share a very tender bond. Charisse lives upstairs in the family home. Her son is Ferris's dad and her other son - Uncle Ted - has moved into the basement. One of the sweetest parts of this story comes near the end when we meet the owner of the hardware store Allen Buoy - he has secretly been in love with Charisse for decades. Charisse calls Ferris Emmaphineas. "Ferris figured she had spent more than half of her time on earth in Charisse's room - talking to her grandmother, listening to her, playing gin rummy with her, and reading to her from the Bible and also from a battered paperback copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass."

Dad is the quiet member of the family. He an architect by day and a reader of the encyclopedia in his spare time. He also loves to repeat a cryptic saying at every turn - "The dogs bark but the caravan passes by."  Ferris explains this by saying "you can bark about what you want or shout about it, but that the world doesn't care that much really; it just keeps on doing what it's doing."

Mum is pragmatic. She is a high school maths teacher. I love her life commentary: "I'm not hosting a dinner party, Charisse. ... If Ted wants to get out of bathrobe and come up the stairs and sit down at the table and sit down with us, he is perfectly welcome to do that. But did I extend him a gilded invitation? No, I did not."; "It's always something around here, itsn't it?"; "I do not want this to turn into some incident that we will read about in the paper the next morning as we sit in the smoldering ruins of our house."

Pinky, is her sister. She totally bounces to her own beat moving from one obsession to another. One day she wants to be famous and runs about in a black cloak with an imaginary sword, then she decides she needs to have her name on a wanted poster for being a bank robber, then she discovers Houdini and his famous escapes. Her real name is Eleanor Rose but NO ONE is allowed to use that name. The tooth incident will make you shudder.

"Boomer was the dog. He was part sheepdog and part German shepherd, and also, according to Ferris's father, part woolly mammoth."

"Aunt Shirley was blonde and pink. She looked like someone who had been spun out of sugar and placed on top of a celebratory cake."

Uncle Ted has a PhD in Philosophy, he is a sign painter, but he has left his job now he is working on a mural in the Wilkey basement. 

There are lots of music references in this book but the most important one is the piece Billy Jackson keeps playing - The Mysterious Barricades. Hear it here at a slower tempo. I also like the guitar version. I really wish I had taken the time to listen to this before reading this book - it sure does set an additional beautiful tone to the story as Billy Jackson sits in the Wakely house playing this tune in the background to all family happenings. And I had no idea Billy Jackson was such a piano virtuoso. 

Les Barricades Mystérieuses (The Mysterious Barricades) is a piece of music that François Couperin composed for harpsichord in 1717. 

Here are a set of questions to use with a group reading Ferris. Oddly these notes do not list all the wonderful Mielk words from the book. Here are a few: ludicrous; gilded, intimation, ignoble, bereft, insouciant (a new word for me meaning unconcerned or indifferent), and unrepentant.

There is a poem on page 165 - I wonder if it is by Kate DiCamillo or some famous poet? Perhaps it is inspired by Walt Whitman?

I started to read Ferris when I was away for a weekend wedding event but the hustle and bustle of that distracted me. When I arrived home, I started Ferris all over again and read the whole book in one delicious afternoon. I did plan to talk about Ferris here on my blog straight away but then I decided - no - I needed to read it all over again. I so rarely re-read books but with Kate DiCamillo I make an important exception. I have read Because of Winn Dixie three times, The Tale of Despereaux twice, The Tiger Rising twice and The Magician's Elephant twice. 

Use the label Kate DiCamillo from this post to find the books that I have talked about on this blog. 

I hope someone somewhere has based their PhD on the writing of Kate DiCamillo. Here are a few of my observations:

• Kate DiCamillo writes with a unique voice and this lingers with the reader long after the book is finished. 
• Kate DiCamillo creates quirky, individual characters that we care very deeply about. Boomer is described as having “a gentle soul”; Charisse is described as a romantic; Ferris’s mom is described as practical and pragmatic; -Pinky is described as monomaniacal; -Ferris’s dad is described as mild-mannered; and Shirley is described as formidable.
• Her writing is always emotional but she adds tiny moments of humour - I actually laughed out loud twice in this book on the third reading.
• No words are wasted. Readers are easily able to fill in complex back stories for her characters.
• Words are important - they are more than tools to tell a story. In this book there are 'big' words invested with enormous meaning and emotion. I mentioned some in this post. They work as a scaffold to help readers. Mrs Meilk, bless her, has inspired Ferris and her friend Billy Jackson to do more than learn new words - they embrace them.
• Every book by Kate DiCamillo is unique and yet there are links between them. Ferris brings her community together for example, just as we saw with our favourite little girl Opal in Because of Winn Dixie. And of course, again we have a very special dog in Ferris - his name is Boomer.

I just re-read Betsy Bird's review of Raymie Nightingale and, to me, so many of her wise words also apply to Ferris. 

• I like the wordplay, the characters, and the setting. I like what the book has to say about friendship and being honest with yourself and others. ... 
• And in a book like this, you find that the characters are what stay with you the longest.
• DiCamillo excels in the most peculiar of details.
• Sadness is important to DiCamillo. As an author, she’s best able to draw out her characters and their wants if there’s something lost inside of them that needs to be found.

I will leave it to your own reading to discover the sadness in this book Ferris. Besty also mentions peculiar details here are a couple I enjoyed in Ferris:

• "Twilla had sat down and picked up a copy of Good Housekeeping that had a picture of a Jell-O mold on the cover."
• "Ferris gave her hand to Billy Jackson ... Billy's hand was sweating. His glasses were attached to his head with a strap, and Ferris knew almost immediately, from that very first moment, that she didn't want to ever lose hold of Billy Jackson."
• Ferris describes Big Billy's Steakhouse - "Ferris walked across the red carpet (everything in the steakhouse was red: the glass candle holders and the Naugahyde* booths and the tablecloths, even the window were made of a pebbled red glass)."   * a vinyl covering used for furniture.
• Mrs Mielk wears oversized fuzzy pink bedroom slippers. 

I would add another theme in Ferris to the list above - light - sunlight and candlelight and the colour yellow. Can I also say this is NOT a ghost story but it does contain a ghost - this will make sense when you read Ferris. Add this book to your library and home collection TODAY. Here is the US cover:

Here are some reviews with more plot details:

• Kirkus Star review
• School Library Journal - Betsy Bird - she talks about the autobiographical aspects of Ferris and Kate DiCamillo - and refers to this New Yorker interview. (Note this does refer to confronting domestic violence). "One of the great things about being able to tell stories is that I can find a way to make sense out of what happened to me as a kid. And maybe help another kid feel safe and less alone." I talk about this in my post here. 
• The Book Muse (Australian)
• A Book and a Hug

Publisher blurb Walker Books Australia: It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium. Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost in the doorway to her room – which seems like an alarming omen given that she is feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans – wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a spectre with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?

The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Julie Morstad

At its heart this is a story about the serendipity of life. It is also a quietly understated love story (and you know I adore those). And a story about the fulfilment of hopes and dreams. 

Five puppets languish in a toy store. There is an owl made from real feathers. A young girl with striking violet eyes. A boy with a bow and arrow set. A King who is wearing a crown. And a wolf with very sharp teeth. By chance, a lonely old sea Captain sees the puppets in the window of a toy store. He has no reason to buy this set of toys but the young girl, with her violet eyes, rekindles and old memory of his lost love from long ago. Back at home that night the man named Spelhorst writes a letter, and he places it in his old travelling trunk. This is the final act of his life but it is not the final act for the set of puppets. Their adventures are about to begin - be sure to listen carefully to their hopes and dreams.

The old sailor's trunk is sold and eventually ends up in a home with two young girls. The older girl, Emma, knows these puppets should be part of a play. She finds and reads the letter, but we still have no idea what it says. At this point the fate of those five very different puppets is in the balance. The owl is mistaken for a feather duster and he ends up in a cleaning bucket. The younger sister, as is the way with very young children, takes the boy and the wolf. Her treatment of the wolf made me gasp. And we watch as the boy, in a way I won't explain here, ends up in the top branches of a tree. 

Finally, we come to the night of the play. Emma has written the script and made the scenery. She needs her younger sister Martha and their maid, Jane Twiddum, to help her with the performance. We don't meet the assembled adults but this performance, in three acts, is filled with pathos. It also links very subtly back to that letter written all those weeks ago by the old sailor. 

Betsy Bird (Goodreads): this is the kind of book that’s going to appeal to kids young and old. A contemporary classic with ingrained appeal and the occasional jolt of weirdness to keep things interesting.

A quiet, comforting fable of identity and belonging. Kirkus

Blurb by Kate DiCamillo: Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends—a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl—bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart’s mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room in the home of two little girls, the truth is more astonishing than any of them could have imagined.

Betsy Bird mentions the three songs in this book, and I felt exactly the same way - I do hope someone can set these to music. 

Last week I saw Walker Books Australia had a little 'competition' give away advance copies of The Puppets of Spelborst - you know the kind of thing - first 'x' number of people to respond to this email will be sent an advance copy of Kate DiCamillo's new book. I had very little hope of winning because it was already late in the morning and surely tons of people had seen the email but NO, I was lucky, and I won this book. I picked up the parcel today at 12 noon and I read the whole book in one quick sitting as soon as I arrived home. 

I am calling this book a novella partly because it only has around 150 pages but also because, even though this looks like a slim and therefore junior book, it is not - I would put this book into the hands of readers aged 10+ who will appreciate the way Kate DiCamillo constructs her story and the way she gives each of her puppet and human characters very distinct personalities. There is some violence in this story but also tiny touches of humor and wonderful moments where we witness the fulfilment of dreams.

This book will be released in mid-October here in Australia, so I suggest you pop it onto your shopping list now or place an advance order with your favourite independent bookstore. I guess this will be the first book in a series because the publisher webpage says this is Book One in the Norendy Tale series. And I found more detail on Kate DiCamillo's web page: A beloved author of modern classics draws on her most moving themes with humor, heart, and wisdom in the first of the Norendy Tales, a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood, each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator.

Here is a PBS interview with Kate DiCamillo. And even more importantly please take a little time to read this New Yorker profile piece from September this year. 

The reporter says uses these words when talking about The Puppets of Spelhorst: 'Joy and Despair' 'Truth Wonder and Sorrow'.

And here is a quote by Kate from the interview:

"One of the great things about being able to tell stories is that I can find a way to make sense out of what happened to me as a kid. And maybe help another kid feel safe and less alone."

Kate DiCamillo dedicates this book to her friend Ann Patchett.  Read what Ann Patchett says about Kate DiCamillo and her books here. 

My copy of The Puppets of Spelhorst is a paperback ARC but I think the real copy will be a special edition hardcover [9781529512854].  I do like the black and white pencil illustrations by Julie Morstad (I love her work) but it would be even more thrilling to see them in colour. 

This book made me think of these picture books (but they are far simpler stories).

The Hidden House

Ruby and Little Joe

The Barnabus Project

Nothing

I am a huge fan of Kate DiCamillo. I have read and blogged so many of her books and I was utterly thrilled when I heard her speak twice in Sydney, Australia at our Sydney Writers Festival. If I hadn't been so badly hampered by deep shyness, I would have loved to have talked to her - maybe I can do that one day.

Because of Winn Dixie

The Tale of Despereaux

Raymie Nightingale

Beverly, Right Here

Louisiana's Way Home

Great Joy

The Beatryce Prophecy

The Magician's Elephant

Flora and Ulysses

These are some other novellas I have read and enjoyed which would be good to put into the hands of readers who enjoy this story form:

Captain Rosalie

Saving Celeste

A Swallow in Winter