An Elephant in the Garden by Micheal Morpurgo

Reviewed by Grace W.

In Germany, 1945, a family of three has to flee their home in Dresden because Americans have started bombing their city. They bring an elephant, their mom’s “best friend” with them. The family heads out of the city, slowly but surely, as the sound of explosions keep coming closer and closer. Will they make it out and will they find a new place to shelter after their home is destroyed?

In An Elephant in the Garden by Micheal Morpurgo, Lizzie and her family are in Germany and their country is at war. Their father is fighting in the war and they need to evacuate Dresden as soon as possible because the English have started bombing their city. Lizzie’s little brother Karli has asthma, so he rides on their elephant’s back. Everybody is trying to get out of the bombing area, so they move very slowly. After a while they approached their aunt and uncle’s house. They walk into the barn, and see a man lying on the ground. It was an enemy soldier. As Lizzie’s mother realizes this, she grabs a nearby pitchfork and starts slowly advancing towards the young man, but Lizzie stops her and reminds her that all killing is wrong. Soon after, they decide to work together to stay unharmed until the war comes to an end. But they must make sure that they don’t get caught working together.

One of the reasons I liked this book is because there is drama in it, but it is not bloody or too detailed. When Lizzie’s mother holds the pitchfork to the enemy soldier's throat, Lizzie grabs her arm just in time after her mother lifts the pitchfork and tells her that harming people is not the solution to anything. It was the kind of action scene I liked, because it is intense but does not contain much blood or gore.

Another reason why I loved this book is because it is a heartwarming story. Even at hard times, Karli manages to make everyone happy. He juggles and is very energetic. This made me feel like this was a book written by a talented author, for not many people can write about laughter and war at the same time.

I would suggest this book to people from 5th grade and up, and I would rate it a 9/10. This book is dramatic and pulls you in when you read it. If you like books that are descriptive but not violent or very scary, I think this would be the right book for you!

HarperCollins, 233 pages