A charming work of magical realism about a unique friendship. ( )

Cuevas, Michelle. (2011). The masterwork of a painting elephant. (Ill. by E. Young). New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux/Frances Foster Books. 136 pp. ISBN 978-0-374-34854-0. (Hardcover); $16.99.

Small page size, just 136 pages, ample illustrations (by Ed Young!), ample white space on the page and between the lines—one may conclude that this is a book for elementary students. And one would be correct, but only partially correct. Birch, the elephant, finds Pigeon Jones, the boy, in a leaf pile near a carwash. Birch takes this orphan as his own. Pigeon, who receives his name from a pigeon, lives on the back of this elephant, never leaving, even when attending school or traveling to Paris, France. Pigeon wants to go to Paris because Birch needs to paint; Birch eventually must part with Pigeon, because, well, Pigeon is a human and he needs to become self-sufficient. This artistic and philosophical book works on many levels, including the one that makes it appropriate for elementary school libraries. Young’s simple line drawings add a poignant, nostalgic atmosphere to Cuevas’s tale. Cuevas’s book is so much more than an early reader; adults will find wisdom in this seemingly random and bizarre story. I suspect, too, that each reader will have a unique experience reacting to the zany wisdom of this tale of friendship and loss and the art of living. We have NOT read this story before!