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An Elephant in the Garden  By  cover art

An Elephant in the Garden

By: Michael Morpurgo
Narrated by: Fiona Clarke
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Publisher's summary

It’s 1944. Elizabeth's father is fighting with the German army on the eastern front. Her mother works at Dresden zoo, where her favourite animal is a young elephant named Marlene. When the zoo director tells her the dangerous animals must be shot to prevent them running amok when the town is bombed, Elizabeth's mother moves Marlene into the back garden to save her….and then the bombs start to fall.

Their home destroyed, Elizabeth and her family must flee the bombed-out city and through the wintery landscape, all the while avoiding the Russian troops who are drawing ever closer. It would be hard enough, without an elephant in tow….

©2010 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about An Elephant in the Garden

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Amazing story!!

Absolutely loved the narration! I couldn’t stop listening. This beautiful story will stay with me for a long time!

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2 people found this helpful

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Heartwarming story and characters.

Not the usual WWII story. If you loved The Book Thief, you will love this one also.

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The Other Side

It’s a beautiful story. Listening to elderly can teach us of days gone by. We don’t know the whole story of historical events, and still don’t, but we learn there is still more to know . Belief, faith and trust takes work.

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1 person found this helpful

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This is a beautiful, kind and loving book.

This book shows mankind at their best and worst with no in between. I read this book with my 5th grade twins for their class was reading about the Holocaust. This is told from a German teenage girl's viewpoint. They are not Jewish, they do not like Hitler but they use to be proud of their country. The book poetically tells an almost unbelievable story with the 2 main themes are love and hope.

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1 person found this helpful

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Marlena, the elephant

I thoroughly enjoyed following the journey of this family & Marlena, the elephant, across war torn Germany to safety.

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Absolutely recommend

The narrator does such a good job of illustrating this story. It pulled at my heart yet still remained wholesome enough to have my daughter read next. Really great book. Finish in a few hours. The book is so riveting that I couldn't stop listening.

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The book is amazing especially the ending

The ending is amazing. I feel like when you read you have to keep going cause you want to know what happens next I loved the ending. Not to be a spoiler, but when she says” I knew it was here. And I knew she knew it was me” when I read it literally started crying best book defentily recommend . I used this for a book report. It has so much info

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Absolutely loved this

Tears in my eyes writing this. Performance was among the best I’ve heard. Great story. Listened to it two sittings. Could not turn it off. I needed this after the last stinker I listened to. Bravo!!!

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Beautiful coming of age story

I wish I had read this book when I was 9 or 10- such a remarkable story to further develop ones’s imagination. The historical components were wonderfully woven into the life of a girl growing up under the worst atrocities of our lifetime. The use of an elephant goes beyond a simple meaning of love during wartime and spectacle of the largest land creature- it became the representation of a hope of a nation. I could stop until the end of a chapter because I wanted to know what happened next.

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Wonderful!!

Great story! I kept wanting more of the story just like Carly! Fabulous narration!! I highly recommend!

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