<?php
$xmlElement = new SimpleXMLElement('<books><book>PHP basics</book><book>XML basics</book></books>');
$xmlElement->rewind(); // rewind to first element, otherwise current() won't work
var_dump($xmlElement->current());
?>
The above example will output:
object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (1) {
[0]=>
string(10) "PHP basics"
}