The Masterwork of a Painting Elephant

Gr 4—6—A preposterous premise is the underpinning for this delightful, touching fable, narrated by big-eared Pigeon Jones, a boy who has spent his life on the back of a white Indian elephant with artistic talent. Abandoned as a baby on the steps of an orphanage by his distracted parents, Pigeon soon crawls out of his basket and is found and nurtured by Birch, formerly of the circus and, recently, the car-wash business. Pigeon pines for his lost family and Birch makes pictures with deep meaning while dreaming of his lost love, an acrobat who ran away to Paris with another acrobat. All goes well until it is time for the boy to end homeschooling and enter fifth grade while still on the elephant's back. Pigeon is taunted at school but imagination and love carry him along and he even finds his first love, Darling Clementine. For his 10th birthday, Pigeon convinces Birch that they should travel to Paris to seek the elephant's acrobat and recognition for his art, as well as Pigeon's own parents. Adventures ensue, featuring singing hoboes on a freight train, capture and escape at the Bronx Zoo, artistic discovery in Hollywood, international fame, and much more. The story is told with poignancy, lyricism, and humor, and its format includes simple, sometimes unfinished-looking pen-and-ink sketches, a chart, a pie graph of "elephant jobs," a musical score, and a chapter of postcard messages. This magical, moving novel is sure to be enjoyed by fans of Daniel Pinkwater, Margery Williams's The Velveteen Rabbit, and the tales of Kate DiCamillo.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY