Follow the Elephant

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Peter was told that his baby sister died at birth, but what if she didn't?  When a fortuneteller tells him she is still alive and an elephant will show him the way to her what will Peter do?  What elephant?  How will an elephant show him the way?  But Peter has hope and determination and sets out to find his sister.

This is a sweet story of hope, belief, family and forgiveness.  DiCamillo sets up a rich setting and develops characters with depth.  Peter's world starts out rather bleak and dark.  And then the elephant appears, literally by magic.   And somehow this event sends ripples through the town, touching everyone.  It is a beautiful story as hope, and wonder, and love start to change the dark lives of the people of the town.  The ending is a little predictable, but it is still wonderful to read.  There are a few dark moments in the story but ultimately it is about the power of family, hope, wonder, friendship, and forgiveness.

The Magician's Elephant starring Noah Jupe

Peter, an orphan being raised by a soldier, has always believed that his baby sister had died.  But when a fortuneteller tells him she is still alive he is determined to find her.  He is told to 'follow the elephant'.  And his quest changes his life and the lives of those around him in unexpected ways.

In a once magical town, hope has disappeared along with the sun.  But then a desperate magician makes an elephant appear and things start to change.  It is fun to watch the town slowly start to come back to life, mostly in the background so make sure to watch, as Peter goes on his quest to find his sister.  There are a wide cast of characters that the audience becomes attached to.  And you feel for Peter as everything seems to want to stop him in his search.  It's fun to watch the characters, some of whom start out sad and lost, change and grow through the story.  It is a fun, beautiful, emotional story about the power of love, empathy, family, and forgiveness.  And it shows you what can happen if you dare to ask the question, "But what if?".  

The movie stays close to the basic story of the book.  There are lots of moments that you will recognize from one to the other.  But there are lots of differences too.  Starting with how the soldier raising Peter got him to how Peter gets the elephant.  Some things are vastly different.  There are new characters in the movie that don't exist in the book.  I, personally, do not like the addition of the king.  He might have been put in as some comic relief (it can get a little dark at times) but I don't think his goofy character fits the feel of the story.  And the added drama from the way Peter gets to the elephant is probably considered important in a movie but was unnecessary in the book.  I liked both of them but, if forced to choose, I would say the slightly simpler, more concise story of the book has a slight edge.

For Lovers of Wildlife

 Beautiful Serengeti starring Simon Shrimpton-Smith

A documentary about life in the Serengeti.

This documentary has 12 half hour episodes.  I watch a lot of wildlife documentaries but there was footage here of things I had never seen before.  There was a lot of new information for me, which is nice when it seems like all the documentaries now have been done before and are just repeating each other.  The cinematography is beautiful and the narrator does a good job.  I also like how they split the information into categories for each episode.  (ie. The Hunt, Defence, Family and such)  I really enjoyed the series and would recommend it to anyone who likes wildlife.  My only critique is that they use the same footage several times, and not just the footage, the narration is the same too, so you know it is the exact same clip.  I binge watched the series so it was very evident, if you space them out you might not notice as much.  It is still definitely worth a watch.

It is available on Amazon Prime right now.

If Clothes Could Talk

Deetjen's Closet by Debbie Noble Black

Sara has moved to a new town where she is being bullied for her belief in magic.  On her quest to prove that magic is real she stumbles upon a coat that talks and introduces her to more talking clothes.  Is this the proof she needs to stop her tormentors from bothering her?

Being so far removed from my 10 years old self I probably don't connect with Sara as much as someone from the target audience would, but I like her.  She is a girl who just wants to be herself.  But it's hard since being herself gets her bullied and teased.  I'm glad Sara doesn't decide to fight back in a traditional way, instead she decides to try to understand the girls who are terrorizing her.  Maybe there is something in their lives that makes them so mean.  It is a very mature approach and watching Sara come to this decision was a pleasure.  I also enjoyed the real historical stories that the clothes told.  (Although I have to admit I learned more about Levi Jeans than I really needed to know.)  But I felt the story of Sara's plight was put on hold to listen to the clothes tell their stories and the clothes became more of a means to tell the history instead of a part of Sara's story.  I did like that at the end certain connections were made so it didn't all seem so random.  But it ended too abruptly for me.  I know it is meant to be a series, but I wanted some sort of conclusion or wrap up and I got none.  It is an interesting concept, and it will probably appeal to a certain young audience, but I was never intrigued enough to wonder what happens next.

I got a free copy of this book from Librarything.com, Early Reviewers.

Do You Keep Your Promises?

 Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

The principle of Urban Promise Prep School has been murdered.  Three boys happened to be in detention that day and all three had a motive.  With everyone willing to believe that any or all of them could have done it, can they trust each other enough to work together to clear all their names?  

This book grabbed me from the beginning.  I like the way it is told from different perspectives.  I think I got to know the characters more by hearing them all speak in their own voices.  I also liked how you got a different piece from everyone, and you got to try to piece them together like a puzzle.  The writing was good.  Everyone had a unique voice so they didn't all sound alike and they were all believable.  You could meet these people.  You could also feel the frustration as, even in a school that is supposed to be helping them, the deck is stacked against them.  They feel powerless: against the school that feels more like a prison, against the principle who has a wonderful reputation but is not always just, and against the instant belief of almost everyone that they could have done this.  The only issue I have with this book is they try to solve the crime themselves.  I understand that they could not trust the police but sneaking around, breaking into places and confronting possible murderers do not seem like actions that should be condoned as a solution to your problems.  But I liked it all the same.  I like how the characters drew me in.  I like how it explored some weighty issues with honesty but was still able to fit it all into an engaging and entertaining story.  I liked how it kept a good pace and never dragged and how I liked all the different perspectives the same and didn't find myself suffering through someone's story just to get back to someone else's.  There is a lot to recommend this book and I hope to read more by Nick Brooks.

I got a free copy of this book from Bookish First.