Thalia Kids' Book Club: Kate DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant

The Newbery Medalist (The Tale of Despereaux) talks about her eagerly anticipated new novel, a haunting fable about trusting the unexpected and making the extraordinary come true, with kids ages 8 and up. The event includes an excerpt performed by actress Rita Wolf, a discussion with the audience, a creative writing project, and a book signing.

Performance playlist:

Reading
Rita Wolf

Conversation
Kate DiCamillo and Lisa Von Drasek

Kate DiCamillo is the author of thirteen books for children including the Newbery Award-winning The Tale of Despereaux , the Newbery Honor book Because of Winn Dixie, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Ms. DiCamillo is also the author of the Mercy Watson early chapter book series for young readers and two picture books, Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken and Great Joy. About The Magician's Elephant she says, "I wanted, I needed, I longed to tell a story of love and magic. Peter, Adele, the magician, the elephant-all the characters in this book are the result of that longing. I hope that you, the reader, find some love and magic here." She lives in Minneapolis and is the proud aunt of three children and one dog.

Lisa Von Drasek is the Children's Librarian for the Bank Street College of Education and Bank Street School for Children. She teaches pre-k through 8th grade as well as Children's Literature to graduate students. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Lisa has reviewed children's books for School Library Journal, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, and is a contributor to the Barnes and Noble Review and EarlyWord.com. She has been named a 2007 Mover and Shaker by Library Journal as a leader in the field of librarianship. Ms. Von Drasek has served as a juror on the New York Times Best Illustrated Books issue, the Newbery Committee, American Library Association's Notable Children's Books, and the Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee. If it is during the school day and she isn't in her library, Ms. Von Drasek can be found at the Bank Street Bookstore looking for recommendations for the next great book to read.

Rita Wolf was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her role in David Greig's The American Pilot at Manhattan Theatre Club. Her career began at the Royal Court Theatre in London with Hanif Kureishi's Borderline. Her New York theatre credits include David Hare's Stuff Happens at the Public Theater, A.R. Gurney's O, Jerusalem at The Flea, and Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul at New York Theatre Workshop and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Her film credits include Stephen Frears' My Beautiful Laundrette. She is a founding member of the London-based Kali Theatre Company. Recently, she narrated the audiobook recording of Benazir Bhuttos' Reconciliation, available at audible.com.