The Magic Paintbrush

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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. Text Rationale:

However an Emperor here’s of the things Shen has created and demands riches. When Shen refuses (upholding her promise to the man) she is imprisoned but soon uses her brush to escape. To discover what happens in this exciting and heart-warming story, you will have to read it for yourself... I will say, however, that there is a happy ending. This is not a usual Julia Donaldson book, as there is not the normal 'fun' approach to the manner in which the story unfurls. There is, however, her familiar strong but simple rhyming style running throughout. The illustrations are lovely and delicate, not the normal bold approach, complementing well the ancient oriental storyline. Whilst being read the story Children will relish looking at the pictures in wonderment, devouring the very different cultural aspects associated with ancient Chinese society.

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The story gives a lot to talk about: first, of course is the magic of the brush - what would you paint, and for whom? But there are also the moral messages: the simple ones regarding keeping one's promise (Shen does, even in the face of powerful and very scary emperor) and greed being a Bad Thing; but also higher-level ones, about artistic integrity perhaps and not selling out or being scared by the powerful. Artists' creative power comes with responsibilities, too. As most Donaldson's efforts, this one, despite being of a different style, also reads very well aloud. It's certainly one of the books I really like reading to Katie - one of the few I would read when most others seem too difficult, too boring, too repetitive or too well known. I think it should be read aloud, even to older children who can read themselves, as should be a lot (if not all) of good verse. It requires attention, though: you need to follow the rhythm which is always there, but not always that obvious. After a few lines you will fall in line with it, though, and after a few readings you will get the whole text right. As always happens in such stories, the greedy Emperor learns of Shen's magical powers, courtesy of the paintbrush, and demands that she paint him a golden tree of coins... As we all know, Shen is unable to fulfil this request and she explains how she is unable to fulfil the Emperors wish, as she had made the promise to paint only for the benefit of the poor. We bought this book when Katie was 2 years old and I think she was too young for it then, she would listen to it and look at pictures, but I don't think she had much of an understanding of the story. I would say that you could start around 3 years old and that pretty much every 5 year old would understand it well, while it would remain attractive to children up to at least 8-9 years old, maybe older? In fact, I liked it a lot myself!

The story is told in rhyme, but it's not the couplet type of rhyme with slightly alternating repetitions encountered in Donaldson/Scheffler books; the Magic Paintbrush offers an altogether more epic story told in a more grown-up way. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. This is a lovely picture book with some spectacular illustrations. The well rooted morals of the story are easily linked to everyday scenarios. With the elements of magic, adventure and surprise this makes a lovely book for Foundation stage all the way through to lower Key Stage two.

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It is, however, a wonderful one and to be honest, I personally like it better than the other ones, though there isn't really much comparison to be made as their intentions and styles are different. 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. She is determined to keep her promise to paint only for the poor, but how can she match the emperor's mighty power? I thoroughly enjoyed this fable, I loved the magic and hope within it- the teasing out that there is a difference between need and greed and that solidarity is owed more to some than to others. The book simply skims over any sort of internal conflicts (eg the consequences of not producing food- although I guess the point to to value also intellectual and artistic "work"; also e.g. any moral conflict- desire to please the emperor or fear by Shen) to have a simple movement where one thing logically follows the other- although she is imprisoned at one point.