The Masterwork of a Painting Elephant (review)

Abandoned by his mother and father as an infant, Pigeon Jones found himself a stand-in parent when he crawled off of the orphanage steps, across town, and onto the back of a friendly-looking elephant. Since then, Pigeon and Birch have been inseparable: Pigeon lives on the elephant's back, never leaving the safety of his protective pachyderm, not even to attend the fifth grade; he even becomes celebrated as an artistic child prodigy (though it's Birch doing the painting). When Birch decides he'd like to find the beautiful acrobat he was once in love with and Pigeon wants to start looking for his real parents, the two friends embark on a journey that takes them from New York to Hollywood to Paris in a search for something that, in the end, they discover they already had. The mature viewpoint of the evocative, flowing prose makes it clear that little Pigeon is narrating his tale from a much older age, but the tone still manages to effortlessly capture the innocent and at times bewildered wonder of a child's perspective. Parents reading with their children will most certainly recognize themselves in the old elephant's fierce protectiveness and his sacrifices for Pigeon, while children will relate to Pigeon's struggle to choose between the safety of a place well known and the allure of the big wide world. The emotional push and pull between the two protagonists is framed nicely by their fantastic, if somewhat purposeless, adventure, so that even listeners not ready to think about the possibility of leaving the nest will appreciate the fable-like quality of the friends' journey. This is a contemplative but entertaining tale perfect to share at bedtime or on a rainy afternoon. Final illustrations not seen.