On a perfectly ordinary day, Peter Augustus Duchene goes to the market square of the city of
 Baltese. Instead of buying the fish and bread that his guardian, Vilna Lutz, has asked him to procure, he uses the coin to pay a fortune-teller to get information about his sister, whom he believes to be dead. He is told that she is alive, and that an elephant will lead him to her. That very night at a performance in the town\'s opera house, a magician conjures up an elephant (by mistake) that crashes through the roof and cripples the society dame she happens to land on. The lives of the boy, his guardian, and the local policeman, along with the magician and his unfortunate victim, as well as a beggar, his dog, a sculptor, and a nun all intertwine in a series of events triggered by the appearance of the elephant. Miraculous events resolve not only the mystery of the whereabouts of Peter\'s sister, but also the deeper needs of all of the individuals involved. DiCamillo\'s carefully crafted prose creates an evocative aura of timelessness for a story that is, in fact, timeless. Tanaka\'s acrylic artwork is meticulous in detail and aptly matches the tone of the narrative. This is a book that demands to be read aloud.Tim Wadham, St. Louis County Library, MO 