The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

But the entire cast of characters discovers that they cannot choose to open themselves up to questions and possibilities alone. Asking questions and believing in the possibility of. How will the world change if we do not question it?' This, in and of itself, is a worthy theme. As Leo Matienne, the policeman says, 'We must ask ourselves questions as often as we dare. They are all not quite where they belong, not quite living whole, fulfilling lives.įor change to come, they must all choose - as Peter has - to open themselves up to questions. Everyone - from the local beggar, to the man who cleans up after the elephant, to the policeman who lives below Peter, to the nun who runs the orphanage - suffers in the same way. Kate DiCamillo creates an ensemble cast, with Peter and the elephant at the center. He helps the elephant find her home and in the process he moves closer to his own home. Finally Peter's wondering and believing becomes action. Then he finds out that the elephant is being held right in his town. He hears about an elephant who has been conjured out of thin air by a magician, and he begins to believe.

By opening his whole self to these possibilities, a space is created - inside and outside - for the answers to come. What if this is true? Could it possibly be true? These questions percolate in Peter's head and heart. And she tells him that an elephant will guide him toward his true destiny. But Peter visits a fortuneteller who leads him to question the truths he's accepted. His sister, Adele, is - dead? That's what Vilna Lutz has told him.

He lives with Vilna Lutz, a soldier friend of his father's, but his family is gone. In The Magicians Elephant, Peter Augustus Duchene is a boy alone. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, to name just a few - and in all of them she displays her knack for entwining real and believable characters with a bit of magic. Loss, love, and hope are recurring themes in her work - think On the one hand it's a magical, faraway fable, and on the other hand a very present and real story, both woven together (dare I say connected together?) in the seamless way that can only come from Kate DiCamillo. The Magicians Elephant by Kate DiCamillo is a story about people who break through these barriers - a story brimming with connection and the hope, love and, yes, even magic that comes from those connections. We live behind stone walls or lines in the sand.

Too often these days, we live behind picket fences, or A magical tale full of hopeful messages for children and adults, from the author of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulaneįeeling separate is a universal experience.

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo