The Magic Paintbrush

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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. 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.

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. 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 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: 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. 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. 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. 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:

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. 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. Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.20 Ocr_module_version 0.0.17 Old_pallet IA19306 Openlibrary_edition 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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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. Julia Donaldson CBE was the Children’s Laureate from 2011 – 2013. Her distinctive, lyrical style has become iconic and instantly recognisable for many. The Magic Paintbrush is a traditional Chinese folktale, dealing with themes of justice and integrity. This text will help to expand children’s knowledge of traditional tales from around the world. It can also be a springboard to explore Chinese culture and celebrations for children, particularly Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac. Links and Themes: 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!

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.urn:lcp:magicpaintbrush0000dona:epub:99998a6b-bb0e-4722-bdc5-8bddc023e39f Foldoutcount 0 Grant_report Arcadia #4281 Identifier magicpaintbrush0000dona Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t5p93p64h Invoice 2089 Isbn 033396442X