Customer Reviews Most Helpful | Most Recent | Highest Rating | Lowest Rating
Average customer review 
(based on 75 reviews)
 Will recommend this book for all ages
Written by Jessica Ferguson from Woodbury, NJ
Sep 08, 2009
The Magician's Elephant is parable/allegory/fable/fairytale and modern kid lit extraordinaire. The tale is somber and atmospheric but the overall feel of the story is one of hope. The characters are quirky and magic lingers on every page. More a novella, it is a quick read of a few hours even for a young reader. I don't recommend putting it off but this is one of those books to be pulled out on a snowy night in front of the fire to be read out loud with your family.
I won't detail the events as the jacket flap and other reviewers are sure to do it but I will say that if you are a fan of DiCamillo's there is no way you should pass up this book. This will seem impossible to you (as it does to me) but her writing is getting even better and with this story I think we may be seeing the beginning of a transcendence to the creation of a storyteller easily in league with Aesop, the Brothers Grimm and Frank L. Baum. I am aware that sounds sycophantic - trust me I am not. In fact, I would really like to hate her for writing so well, as an aspiring writer myself, but there is no denying the quality of this story.
There is a very visual and cinematic quality to the writing that keeps the reader engaged. It is difficult to stop thinking about Peter, Adele, the elephant, the magician, and all the others just because the book is closed.
I sincerely hope adults will pick this book up as well - especially those who have already discovered the pleasures of good children's literature.
(145 of 162 people found this review helpful)
Magical, magical, magical.
Written by Robert Busko from North Carolina
Sep 14, 2009
At age 60 some might say that I'm far too old to be a fan of Kate DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant. Wouldn't that be a shame? I became a fan of DiCamillo's when I read The Tale of Despereaux and later the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Whatever lessons are intended for the young are not lost on those of us that are a generation or two further along in our visit on the planet.
Kate DiCamillo's stories are charming, well thought out and always provide interesting characters to carry the tale forward. Engaging is a word most applicable when discussing The Magicians Elephant. Is there anything more important for a storyteller?
Like the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Magician's Elephant is an odyssey involving a string of characters each providing to the story in some small manner. Besides spinning an interesting tale, characterization is DiCamillo's best talent.
In the Magician's Elephant the main character, Peter, has been told that his sister Adele is dead. Wanting desperately to believe Adele isn't dead Peter wanders into the tent of a fortuneteller. Given one question to ask (he actually gets two) Peter is given to believe that his sister is still alive and he is told that an elephant will lead him to her. At this point the reader is hooked.
Will Peter find Adele? Read the book and see. Like so many of life's journeys it isn't the destination but the trip that matters.
I have a granddaughter who is five. I'm torn about reading this story to her or waiting for her to grow and let her discover these stories on her own. I think I'll opt to read The Magician's Elephant to her. That will be two gifts, one for her and one for me.
I can't recommend The Magician's Elephant more strongly.
Peace always.
(61 of 72 people found this review helpful)
 Children's book written for adults
Written by The Library Lady from Minnesota
Nov 09, 2009
As an adult reader, I enjoyed The Magician's Elephant, but as a piece of children's literature, I was quite dissappointed in it. While this is a relatively short book, it is dense to say the least. The themes of lonliness, truth, and forgiveness are a bit heavy for a children's book. The whole atmosphere of the book is bleak, and it is populated by characters lost in their own despair. While the last chapter does offer hope, the entire rest of the book is quite dismal. On top of this, the book is wholly without action. While there may be a few children out there who may enjoy this book, I believe the majority will not. I am a big fan of DiCamillo's other books, but in this book she has drifted too far from what children want to read about for this book to truly be considered chilren's literature.
(39 of 46 people found this review helpful)
 Magic and mayhem.
Written by James May from
Nov 09, 2009
The Magician's Elephant is an enchanting tale about a young boy that makes a rather difficult decision: spend his money on bread or on a fortune teller that appeared within the town walls? The young lad opts for the latter and learns that an elephant will lead him to his lost sister. Seems odd? Peter realizes that the fortune offers hope that his sister is still alive somewhere. During a magic show, an elephant makes a rather strange appearance and now Peter believes there may be something to the fortune.
While the story does share similarities with stories long ago, it is Kate DiCamillo that really captures the imagination and delivers the story fluidly and with moments of tension and amazement. The story is rather straight forward and the surprises are kept to a minimum. The book is a quick read but still manages to develop the characters in a richly detailed depth that will capture the reader from the first page. I only gave it 4-stars because I just finished reading Mary Stewart's timeless masterpiece "The Crystal Cave" and while I enjoyed The Magician's Elephant it doesn't quite live up to the book I read prior.
(14 of 15 people found this review helpful)
Lovely and Not for Younger Children (a review of The Magician's Elephant)
Written by Pam Tee from
Sep 17, 2009
I very much liked this book just as I very much like all of Kate DiCamillo's works for older children. It has depth and feeling and a dark mood that calls for internal reflection. (Similar to what one finds in Edward Tulane, and to an extent the Tale of Desperaux.)
The story starts out with Peter, an orphan who is living with a military man of dubious sanity and health. But it quickly unfolds to be more complex, becoming in the end a book that is not just about one character, but many.
There is Peter the primary actor, and his tormented mentor, Vilna Lutz. But also the police officer, Leo Matienne, and the stone mason, the grand dames, the nun and so many more, There is Adele a young orphan girl, and even the elephant, who miraculous crashes down in the opera house during a magic show. A show that should have been of no importance but which altered the lives of a city.
There being so many people is not insignificant. Because this book is not about individuals, but about life. About relationships and how they define us, and how we define them. Essentially so many aspects of love and hope were exposed that I was reminded of a Zen koan. There is just so much to think about, so much to contemplate.
So ultimately, in my opinion, The Magician's Elephant is not a book for children. (I didn't even attempt to read it to my 7 and 9 year olds) Or at least not young children. It is, however, a wonderful thought provoking book for adults and for teens who are ready to examine life.
**4.5 Stars**
Pam T~
mom and reviewer at BooksforKids-reviews
(9 of 10 people found this review helpful)
› Read more reviews... |