I read every night to my eight-year-old daughter so there are likely to be several books for children mixed into my own individual reads. At just over 200 pages this book was quick and lovely. We read it in the space of three nights and I really enjoyed it. Like DiCamillo's other books this book was a delight. Her prose is always lovely and this book was no exception. I think that I actually enjoy her books more than my daughter does. I found myself actually tearing up a bit as I read the last chapter.
The story concerns a young boy, a magician, and an elephant (among other players). The young boy is at the center of the story, Peter Augustus Duchene, is a ten-year-old orphan who lives with his guardian, an old soldier by the name of Vilna Lutz. The story takes place in a land of Baltese and begins with Peter's choice to spend the coin in his pocket on a fortune teller, rather than the bread and fish he was sent to buy.
I think that the book is aimed at a middle school audience, but I would likely have read it even if I hadn't been reading to my daughter. The cover illustration and the illustrations throughout the book by Yoko Tanaka are absolutely beautiful and worth taking a look at all on their own.
I'll leave this with a quote:
Magic is always impossible.... It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why its magic.
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