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 Peter can hardly dare to believe it.
Kate DiCamillo is the author of award-wining and bestselling books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux, which received a Newbery medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which was a Newbery Honor book; The Tiger Rising, which was a National Book Award finalist; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane; and Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, a Newbery Medal winner. Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis.
Juliet Stevenson is one of the most respected actors of her generation. Having studied at RADA, she has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company,in the popular TV serialization of Catherine Cookson’s novels, The Mallens, and in major award-winning film roles. Juliet was awarded a CBE in 1999.
Hometown:
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Date of Birth:
March 25, 1964
Place of Birth:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Education:
B.A. in English, University of Florida at Gainesville, 1987
Read an Excerpt
Peter stood in the small patch of light making its sullen way through the open flap of the tent. He let the fortuneteller take his hand. She examined it closely, moving her eyes back and forth and back and forth, as if there a whole host of very small words inscribed there, an entire book about Peter Augustus Duchene composed atop his palm. (Continues…)
Q & A with Author Kate DiCamillo about her new novel The Magician's Elephant
Q. What is your definition of magic? What has happened in your life that is magical or unexpected?
A. I guess my definition of magic is something very close to the definition the magician gives toward the end of the story: "Magic is always impossible. It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it is magic." I would add, though, that while magic is impossible from beginning to end, it is also possible. Somehow (who knows how?) the impossible gets turned into the possible. That's magic. Which leads very nicely into the next part of this question: What has happened in my life that is magical or unexpected? Telling stories seems like magic to me; it seems both impossible and possible in that same way. And what has happened to me and my stories - people reading them, liking them, and me getting to make my living telling them - well, talk about unexpected. Talk about magical.
Q. The Magician's Elephant features an animal character. This is a common theme in your novels. Why an elephant this time?
A. I didn't think, Oh boy, I'm going to put an elephant in a story. I guess it happened this way: The story began for me with the magician and the fact that he wanted to perform real magic, true magic. That magician appeared before me in the lobby of a hotel in New York City. I had, in my satchel, a notebook that I was going to give as a gift to someone. The notebook had an elephant on the cover. And when I went into my bag to get my notebook to write a description of the magician I had just caught sight of,I happened to see that other notebook, the one with a picture of an elephant on the front of it.
Q. Was there a specific place that inspired the setting for the city of Baltese?
A. No, but after I finished writing The Magician's Elephant, I saw a movie that took place in Bruges, and I couldn't concentrate at all on what was happening in the movie because I was so struck by how much Bruges looked like the city of Baltese, the city I had imagined.
Q. The fortuneteller tells Peter that "truth is forever changing." Why is this an important line in the story, and why did you want to share it with children in general?
A. I think this comes back to the whole idea of the impossible suddenly becoming the possible. We have to remain open to those moments when everything can change. I actually think that children are much better at doing this than adults are because they are much less likely to see things in a black-and-white way. All of us, children and adults, need to remind ourselves that the impossible can become possible. That's one of the great gifts of stories.
Q.What was your predominant feeling while writing this book? Was it faith, or fear? Do you know how your endings will turn out when you start?
A. Oh, I'm always afraid when I'm writing. And I never know how things will turn out. This time around it was particularly terrifying because there were so many different balls up in the air, and I had no idea how I would catch them all. But even though I was terrified, I was also, in a strange and wonderful way, healed by the telling of this story. I got out of my own way and let the story tell me how it would all come together. At the same time, I felt something come together, kind of knit itself, inside of me.
Q. How do you feel about the illustrations? Have you ever met Yoko Tanaka?
A. I think the illustrations are an astonishment, a wonder, a marvel. They literally take my breath away. They are haunting and otherworldly and just exactly right. I have never met Yoko, no. And yet she painted the world I imagined.
It’s the first week of May which means it’s time to celebrate! Not only is school about to be out for the summer, but it’s also Children’s Book Week — one of the longest-running national literacy initiatives in the country. This year, Every Child a Reader has chosen the theme “Read Books. Spark Change” — […]
