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

The Rabbit's Magician by Shae Millward illustrated by Andy Fackrell

Ziggy’s beloved magician has performed an amazing disappearing trick. But just where is The Amazing Albertino? Ziggy waits. And waits some more. Has something gone wrong with the trick?

This book provides a quiet and comforting way to explain the great mystery of death especially the death of a loved one. The title is sure to generate some good discussions with children about magicians and rabbits and how they might relate to one another.

We do not need to know why or how Alby died – that is not the focus of this story but I imagine children will infer he had grown quite old.

"I really miss him. I'm worried something went wrong with the trick - he should have reappeared by now. 'No, dear Ziggy, it worked ... In fact his last magic trick was his greatest ever. But it wasn't a disappearing act. He is not gone. He's all around. You see his trick was changing from one form to another."

I love the slow build up as each of the animals invite rabbit to join them. Owls are always the wise characters in story so this is a recognisable trope. In story terms it feels very satisfying that the wise owl is the one to ask the all-important question – what are you waiting for? 

The low horizon line used in the early story scenes hints at the enormity of the subject matter - a story about love and loss. Turn the page and there are brighter colours and a change of energy.  Ziggy is allowed to grieve and cry but the wisdom offered by his friends is genuinely reassuring. There are quite a few books that feature magicians and rabbits but often the rabbit in a magician's act is seen to be abused or treated badly by his boss.  In this book I loved the tender relationship between Ziggy and Alby (implied by the carrots he offers his friend). Witnessing their relationship helps us understand the depth of Ziggy’s initial confusion and then grief over the loss of his dearest friend.  

See more pages from this book here. 

This book will engage and help readers understand more about emotional responses to the deepest type of loss. 

The publisher gives an age guide of 3-8 years for this book but to me it is way deeper than that and is better shared with readers aged 10+ which I why I put Senior Picture book as a label on this post.  Art teachers in high school could also use this book to study the way Andy Fackrell uses colour. He says: “Colour helped convey the emotional journey; the red earth implied rawness of emotion, the Prussian blue night reflected loneliness, but the time Alby and Ziggy spent together was brought to life with exuberant complimentary hues.” 

Here are some further notes about the art:

Because the book's locations change between exterior to interior – from the Aussie outback to a theatre stage, from outside to inside Alby's house – I needed to find common elements that smoothed the transition. The easiest way was to use a common colour throughout. The purple/blue night sky gave me a vibrant base. So the colour theory was basically 'What looks nice with deep, moody, purple?' Purple looks good with bright green, and also vibrant red. So these three colours are dominant. Some of the details also use complementary colours that sit well with purple; the bunch of carrots (red and green), the bouquet of flowers (pale purple and yellow). I was definitely influenced by Henri Matisse, especially the scene when Ziggy opens Alby's bedroom. Flame red walls, apple green door, pale plum carpet and bright purple bed. I felt Alby would be a vibrant character with an unrestrained taste in colour. The moon phases also provided a motif that I could repeat throughout the book. For instance, when Alby appears from his room, the door is slightly ajar – mirroring the slither of moon in the phase sequence at the top of the page. Other examples are the door frames being half-moons, the circular window being separated by four sections (phases) and Ziggy's most important animal friend, the owl, being perfectly round like the full moon. The most important aspect of illustrating The Rabbit's Magician was how to keep it bright and fun while telling a heartfelt story that happens in the dark of night. 

The pictures take us on a journey around the world, where we experience the moon phases and aspects of art and science, magic and invention, and ideas around taking care of yourself physically and emotionally. It shows the power of friendship as well and brings so much to life. I think it is the kind of book that will have different meaning for different ages, because everyone who reads this will see something different in it. The Book Muse

Here are some teachers notes for The Rabbit's Magician. And these notes by Shae Millward are very detailed and well worth exploring and you might also need the associated worksheets which are aimed at very young readers. Here is the trailer from the publisher Ford Street.

Companion books:

The Bear and the Wildcat

Waiting for Wolf

The Great Fox Illusion by Justyn Edwards

I thought I might explain the plot of this book using dot points:

• A crazy millionaire sets up an almost impossible competition filled with seemingly impossible magic tricks (these amazed me)
• Time is ticking - this is all very urgent and every move is being controlled and filmed
• Our hero Flick's dad is missing but she is sure he is still alive
• Only Flick can save the day
• Someone is blackmailing Flick and she knows her mother is in danger
• Flick needs to find a mysterious magic trick invented by her dad, possibly the best ever developed, before it gets into the wrong hands
• Flick has a quick mind and terrific problem solving skills
• Flick also has a disability - she only has one leg - and her shocking pain as she runs through the puzzle house, desperate to win, adds so much to the tension in this story
• Luckily her father has passed on important information about how magic tricks work
• The other team in the competition are cheating and they regularly bully Flick and her friend Charlie. The reasons for their dreadful behaviour and high tech gadgets are also part of the mystery.
• Working to solve the puzzles set by the competition organisers, Flick discovers two heads are way better than one (thank goodness)
• Eating ice cream at midnight does seem like a terrific idea

Publisher blurb: Thirteen-year-old Flick Lions has won a place on a new television show, in which young people compete to win the legacy of the Great Fox, one of the world's most famous magicians. But Flick isn't interested in uncovering the Great Fox's tired old magic tricks – she's after something much more important. The magician destroyed her family, and this is Flick's only chance to put things right. Inside the Fox's house is a secret that will change the world of magic for ever, and Flick will go to any lengths to find it.

A story about hope, family, loyalty and courage there is also a sense of mystery throughout the story and the answers are there the whole time but I didn’t spot them… until I had finished! Little Blog of Library Treasures

This brilliant debut novel will leave readers scratching their heads trying to figure out what just happened. The Great Fox Illusion is a magical story brimming with adventure, illusion, and friendship ...  Reading Time

At the end of this book enough things are resolved to satisfy readers but the way is also open for a possible sequel. Take a look at the Walker Books UK trailer. Here is the web site for the author. It also contains a game. This book was published in April, 2022.  Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy. This is one of those books that really surprised me.  I thought I would dip in and read the first chapter and a couple of hours later I found I had read the whole book!

This book is perfect for fans of Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library.

You could also look in a school library for these:

Small Change for Stuart

Tricky Nick

Disappearing Act

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Parker Inheritance

Look for all the books in this series which now have very different covers

Tricky Nick by Nicholas J Johnson

Nick is not good at sticking with hobbies, sports, or learning musical instruments but finding a magic trick on a box of cornflakes - a magic trick that works - a magic trick that actually impresses his parents - Nick is hooked. He sets off to learn more magic tricks. This is one hobby that he won't abandon.

His mum is a librarian so she tells him to go to SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY THREE POINT EIGHT.  Do you know what that means?  She's sending him to the magic books in the library. On the shelf Nick finds the perfect book. It is old and slightly hidden between other books which tells us this is not just a magic book it is THE magic book - the one Nick needs to make his dream come true. But someone else wants this book - The Encyclopedia of Amateur Magic by J. Mesno. The man who wants it calls himself Mr E. He is a verbose man who (Nick will discover) is very dangerous.

I started reading Tricky Nick on a train journey yesterday. The story was okay but it was just meandering along. I was waiting for a jolt, a shock, a moment of delight, an internal question mark followed by an exclamation mark.  Then along came a young girl called Trixie and the world slightly shifted. The magic she performs at the meeting of The Brotherhood of United Magicians is spectacular. Nick is blown away. Clearly Trixie is a girl to watch but why is Mr E so dismissive of her obvious talent?

Later in the story I found these lines.  I really enjoy the intrusive author voice which Nicholas Johnson uses here - it made me want to race through the book to discover the exciting and weird things that are promised.

"Okay. Let's just stop right here so I can remind you of two things. First, I told you this book was going to take twists and turns and you'd be scratching your head wondering how it could all be true. So don't say I didn't warn you. Second, you chose to read this book. So if it's all too weird and confusing for you, you can put it down now. But if you think you can handle the truth, then you can keep on reading. I promise you, things are going to get more exciting (and weirder)."

Tricky Nick will be published by Pan Macmillan on 25th August, 2020. Readers aged 10+ will enjoy this quirky story of magic, time travel and friendship. Readers may also want to investigate the idea of chaos theory and The Butterfly Effect. Time travel might be fun but travelers from the future must take care in our world. This book is also filled with real magic tricks which do work because the author is actually a professional magician. Nicholas says this book is all true (probably not) but perhaps some parts are autobiographical?

Here is a summary from the front cover of my advance copy (thanks to Beachside Bookshop) of Tricky Nick: "This story is full of magic tricks and secrets, intrigue, humour, heart, time travel, baddies, heroes, adventure ... "

This is also a book with some terrific words: stultiloquent, chrestomathy, athenaeum, enigmatic, chicaney.

You might also like to read more about female magicians. In this book, Nicholas J Johnson mentions Adelaide Herrmann, Celeste Evans, and Lady Frances. Here is a recent picture book biography about Adelaide Herrmann published by Walker Books (Candlewick).

Take a look at this picture book about The Butterfly Effect:

Would follow this book with these:

Disappearing Act

Small Change for Stuart