The Magic Paintbrush

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The Magic Paintbrush is a traditional Chinese folktale, dealing with themes of justice and integrity. I now have a 5 year old grand-daughter who is half Chinese, so I was delighted to find this Julia Donaldson version, especially as she is a big fan of the author. She was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011-13 and has been honoured with an MBE for Services to Literature.

The big difference is that the main character is now female and so is easier for her to identify with. The story is based on a traditional Chinese tale which has been retold many times across Asia and it is probably one of the most popular stories passed on from generation to generation. Julia Donaldson is the outrageously talented, prize-winning author of some of the world's best-loved children's books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child , which together have sold over 17 million copies worldwide, and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures. Complimented by beautiful water colour illustrations which brings out the purity of the underlying message, the story gently builds up to a dramatic climax.

In The Magic Paintbrush, Julia Donaldson's brilliant verse combines with beautiful illustrations from Joel Stewart, creator of The Adventures Abney and Teal, to bring vibrant life to a traditional tale of how a little girl's integrity can withstand the corruption of power and greed. In this ten-session Writing Root, which we suggest will take 3 weeks to cover, the children discover a magic paintbrush and are asked what they would paint with it. She was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011–13 and has been honoured with a CBE for Services to Literature. With her magic paintbrush, Shen can paint steaming pots full of fish and oysters to feed the hungry people in her village, but when the evil emperor hears of her gift he commands Shen to paint gold for him instead. Julia Donaldson has written some of the world's best-loved children's books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which together have sold over 25 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over one hundred languages.

Must see if can find the Chinese brushes 5 in the box and the children loved to pretend they were magic and talk about what they would paint. The children create their own dragon-like monsters through playing Mix and Match Monsters and record ideas by drawing and labelling a diagram. With her magic paintbrush, Shen can paint steaming pots full of fish and oysters to feed the hungry people in her village.It tells the story of Shen who receives a magical paintbrush with instructions to paint for the poor as the paintings come to life. This edition features a stunning redesigned cover, making it a must-have addition to the bookshelves of all Donaldson fans – big and small! Clever book with wonderful problem solving skills shown and a delightful tale of a little girl with a moral task to complete. This was one of the stories included my show “The Gruffalo, the Witch and the Warthog” which we performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018 and took to a few other theatres. Further books illustrated by Axel include Room on the Broom, Stick Man, Zog and The Smeds and the Smoos – all of which have been made into much-loved animated films by Magic Light Pictures.

I have used this book for two different topics (China and Traditional Tales) with two different year 2 classes and all have been captured by it.I am a retired Infant Teacher and I first came across this story published as a Ladybird book, and my pupils always enjoyed it. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. In The Magic Paintbrush, Julia Donaldson's brilliant verse combines with beautiful illustrations from Joel Stewart, creator of The Adventures Abney and Teal , to bring vibrant life to a traditional tale of how a little girl's integrity can withstand the corruption of power and greed. An enchanting tale told in catchy rhyming verses true to JD style, this story will capture the imagination of children and grown ups. JD has stamped her distinctive rhythm into making this re-telling a very atmospheric book of how a little girl's life changes when she is given a magic brush which turns anything she paints into real life.