The Magician's Elephant

In this timeless fable, New York Times bestselling author, twice winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal and US National Ambassador for Children's Literature Kate DiCamillo evokes the largest of themes – hope and belonging, desire and compassion – with the lightness of a magician’s touch.

Another classic in the making by Kate DiCamillo, New York Times bestselling author and twice winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal. What if? Why not? Could it be? When a fortune-teller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he must ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortune-teller's mysterious answer (An elephant! An elephant will lead you there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it is true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be told by Kate DiCamillo.

Winner of American Booksellers Association Indies Choice Book Awards 2010 (United States) Winner of BookBrowse Awards, Best Young Adult Book 2009 (United States) Winner of Minnesota Book Awards 2010 (United States) Short-listed for American Booksellers Association Indies Choice Book Awards (United States). Nominated for Colorado Children’s Book Award 2010 (United States)

Elegant, timeless and utterly heartbreaking. The Independent on Sunday
Full of charm this is also a heroic story of how goodness and courage can outsmart dark forces The Guardian
Beautiful…stunningly illustrated The Irish Times
Beautiful illustrations. -- 12-year-old Gracie Anorak
The Magician's Elephant is a timeless fable evoking the largest of themes - hope and belonging, desire and compassion. The Bookseller Children's Buyer's Guide

Kate DiCamillo is the author of many beloved books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, both of which received a Newbery Medal, the latter also being shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; and the bestselling Mercy Watson series. Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis, USA. For more information about Kate and her books, check out and

Yoko Tanaka is a graduate of the Art Center College in Pasadena, California. She is the illustrator of Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers, and Sparrow Girl by Sara Pennypacker. Yoko Tanaka lives in Los Angeles and Bangkok.

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