In a highly awaited new novel, Kate DiCamillo conjures a haunting fable about trusting the unexpected — and making the extraordinary come true.

What if? Why not? Could it be?

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.

Amazon Best of the Month, September 2009: Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo--author of The Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane-- has crafted another exquisite novel for young readers. The Magician's Elephant tells the tale of Peter Augustus Duchene, a ten-year-old orphan who receives an unbelievable piece of information from the local fortuneteller. Peter learns that his fate is tied to an elephant that has inexplicably fallen from the sky when a magician's trick goes terribly wrong. Why did it happen? And, how can an elephant possibly change the course of Peter's life? This darkly atmospheric, yet hopeful tale, demonstrates that when the answers to life’s big questions are opaque or unforthcoming, all is not lost. DiCamillo's rhythmic writing, combined with Yoko Tanaka's mysterious black-and-white illustrations, enchants and calls out to our sincerest wishes and dreams (recommended for readers ages 8-13). --Lauren Nemroff

After reading the diverse comments on this book, I think the comment about reading the book aloud makes most sense. This can provide adults brief opportunities to talk about the failings of adults and institutions in the story with children. I disagree that this book is too dark and unhappy for kids. The world is full of adults who fail kids every day. This story has the kids prevail in spite of the hapless adults around them. I agree the adult characters in her other books were just as bad, and often worse. Think of the men and boys in Tiger Rising; even his father wouldn't let him mourn the loss of his mother. The school bullies. The pathetic owner of the tiger. And, in Because of Winn-Dixie "The Preacher" had little time for his daughter. This isn't my favorite book by the author, but I think that is because it is so different. (I didn't read Edward, but all the rest.)

I bought this for my 4th grader daughter. She had read a DiCamillo book in school, and loved it, and the premise of this book sounded promising. I decided to read it aloud and was glad I did, as some of the writing and words were beyond what my daughter could have read and understood. Granted, she isn't a brilliant, gifted reader, but she can handle books in her age group. Still, the story was a bit dreary and moved slowly. The soldier surrogate father, Vilna Lutz, to Peter was just a bit bizarre. I just didn't see how he added to the story. As I read the book, I couldn't envision anything beyond a grey city, constantly dreary where noone was ever really happy. When you read a book and let your imagination picture the scenery, you don't want grey, bleak pictures throughout the story.
I guess that sounds kind of harsh, but it's how we felt. I didn't get the sense that my kid was overly enthralled with the story either, and no, we didn't skim the book, and I didn't color my daughters view of the book while reading it.

i got it from a friend and i started to read it and i did not stop till i was dun

Kate DiCamillo's character's were very interesting and became more and more real as the story progressed. There are redeeming qualities in this story with the resolution of the main characters' issues. It is a shame that this book is not as interesting and entrancing as DiCamillo's other two favorites (mine was the The Tale of Despereaux).

I am a retired professor and read the books I intend to give to my favorite young ones. I found this book to be dark, dismal, and really lacking any joyfulness. It really dragged in places and, even I had a hard time staying interested in the story.

THE STORY LINE INVOLVING THE ELEPHANT IS VERY SAD, AND THUS, NOT APPROPRIATE FOR IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN! I WILL NOT PASS IT ON!!!

I loved Desperaux and Winn Dixie. This book disappoints. Lyrical language but not an interesting story...an especially poor ending. I read aloud to my kids. Normally they are spell bound. This was boring and maybe a bit pompous. Maybe Kate is writing too quickly or is making too much $$ to be able to write a book that kids will enjoy.