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Lizzie and Karl´s mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don´t run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay in their garden instead. When the city is bombed, the family flees with thousands of others, but how can they walk the same route when they have an elephant in tow, and keep themselves safe? Along the way, they meet Peter, a Canadian navigator who risks his own capture to save the family.
As Michael Morpurgo writes in an author´s note, " An Elephant in the Garden" is inspired by historical truths, and by his admiration for elephants, "the noblest and wisest and most sensitive of all creatures." Here is a story that brings together an unlikely group of survivors whose faith in kindness and love proves the best weapon of all.

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Michael Morpurgo, geboren 1943 in London; lange Zeit tätig als Lehrer, bevor er mit seiner Frau in Devon das Projekt "Bauernhöfe für Stadtkinder" ins Leben rief, das sie inzwischen seit über zwanzig Jahren leiten. Zahlreiche Kinderbuch-Veröffentlichungen, davon diverse ausgezeichnet.

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Michael Foreman has written and illustrated many books for children. He has won the coveted Kate Greenaway Medal in the U.K. twice, as well as the Smarties Book Prize, the Bologna Book Prize, and many other prestigious awards. Michael divides his time between London and St. Ives in Cornwall.

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