The Magic Paintbrush

Product Information

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! In the story, she overcomes a greedy Emperor who sets his dragon upon Shen. The children create their own dragon-like monsters through playing Mix and Match Monsters and record ideas by drawing and labelling a diagram. They then write an own-version narrative by changing the items that their main character paints and including their own monster that the main character overcome. Synopsis of Text: 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.

Spring 2/ Summer 1 - Growing/Minibeasts - Aaaarrgghh, Spider! Once There were Giants - Celebrations All in all, excellent book, in fact my favourite Donaldson (though recent 'Snail and Whale' from the Scheffler/Donaldson partnership comes close second).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.

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. Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers. The man had told her not to paint for the rich and only the poor. This relates to the morals within Robin Hood where the poor receive and the rich do not. 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.

Curriculum

I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books. The story is about a girl called Shen who is given the amazing gift of a magic paintbrush. She is told never to paint for rich people but to use it to help the poor. But the emperor hears about Shen and decides he will use her gift to add to his already enormous wealth. Shen of course refuses and is thrown into jail by him. As her paintings come to life she finds a way to get herself out of jail and get rid of this horrible Emperor once and for all. Because Shen is a beautiful person she decides against it but finds a way for the whole village to live happily ever after. I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. 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.

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. If you have a child of pre-school or early school age it's likely you would have at least heard of Julia Donaldson, who, in her partnership with the illustrator Axel Scheffler has created several best-selling books for young children, including the most popular Gruffalo which spawned a true cult. Magic Paintbrush is also a Julia Donaldson's book, and it's also written in rhyme as most of her others, but it's not illustrated by Axel Scheffler and it's a different kind of book. 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: It's not a book that will be read once or more every day for a period of short fascination, I think, it's more a book that will be read every so often when the child feels in the mood for it, but I think it has good lasting power - we have had it for three years now and it gets read regularly while not obsessively. I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.

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. Then, through the story of The Magic Paintbrush, they meet Shen who loves to paint and draw. Shen is presented with a magic brush but she is to only use it for good.

The story, whilst there are some advanced aspects to its telling, is suitable for three to eight years olds, which is made possible by the inclusion of cross curricular traits. There are some lovely adjectives, a wide variety of connectives and rhyming words for the children to investigate. I have some reservations around a write author appropriating a Chinese story (however beautifully) and not even having a "note to the reader" about where the story came from. I wonder if Edward Said would find this an example of his problematic "Orientalism" and I feel a little uncomfortable with it. I am personally slightly over rhyme but nevertheless enjoyed the way the story unfolded and the nearly dragon (I was almost disappointed but Donaldson immediately threw in a party to distract me- in a good way. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). 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.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. 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?