The Magic Paintbrush

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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. 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.

The Magic Paintbrush is a traditional Chinese folktale, dealing with themes of justice and integrity. 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.

It can also be a springboard to explore Chinese culture and celebrations for children, particularly Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac. 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. With her magic paintbrush, Shen can paint steaming pots full of fish and oysters to feed the hungry people in her village. She is determined to keep her promise to paint only for the poor, but how can she match the emperor's mighty power? She was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011-13 and has been honoured with an MBE for Services to Literature.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. In The Magic Paintbrush, Julia Donaldson's vibrant verse and Joel Stewart's beautiful illustrations bring fresh life to a traditional tale of how a little girl's integrity can withstand the corruption of power and greed. Her other books include The Hospital Dog illustrated by Sara Ogilvie, The Christmas Pine illustrated by Victoria Sandøy and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures illustrated by Lydia Monks.

This edition features a stunning redesigned cover, making it a must-have addition to the bookshelves of all Donaldson fans – big and small! 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. An enchanting tale told in catchy rhyming verses true to JD style, this story will capture the imagination of children and grown ups.

Complimented by beautiful water colour illustrations which brings out the purity of the underlying message, the story gently builds up to a dramatic climax. It tells the story of Shen who receives a magical paintbrush with instructions to paint for the poor as the paintings come to life. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.She was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011–13 and has been honoured with a CBE for Services to Literature. I am a retired Infant Teacher and I first came across this story published as a Ladybird book, and my pupils always enjoyed it. The children create their own dragon-like monsters through playing Mix and Match Monsters and record ideas by drawing and labelling a diagram. It is a story of a girl who is gifted a magic paintbrush and made to promise that she will always only paint for the poor. The big difference is that the main character is now female and so is easier for her to identify with.