She was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011–13 and has been honoured with a CBE for Services to Literature. This edition features a stunning redesigned cover, making it a must-have addition to the bookshelves of all Donaldson fans – big and small! The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. 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. As well as writing and illustrating wonderfully quirky books, Joel is a keen banjo player and adores comic strips.

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. 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.The big difference is that the main character is now female and so is easier for her to identify with. It tells the story of Shen who receives a magical paintbrush with instructions to paint for the poor as the paintings come to life. An enchanting tale told in catchy rhyming verses true to JD style, this story will capture the imagination of children and grown ups. The Magic Paintbrush is a traditional Chinese folktale, dealing with themes of justice and integrity.

Registered office address: Office 6 HQ Business Centre | 237 Union Street | Plymouth | PL1 3HQ | UK. 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. The beautiful illustrations and naturally rhyming text make for an interesting and imagination grabbing book. 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.

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. It can also be a springboard to explore Chinese culture and celebrations for children, particularly Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I am a retired Infant Teacher and I first came across this story published as a Ladybird book, and my pupils always enjoyed it. 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.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Clever book with wonderful problem solving skills shown and a delightful tale of a little girl with a moral task to complete. 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 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.She is determined to keep her promise to paint only for the poor, but how can she match the emperor's mighty power? 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. 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. With her magic paintbrush, Shen can paint steaming pots full of fish and oysters to feed the hungry people in her village.