We discovered The Magic Paintbrush
while visiting friends in Hong Kong last month. At first I thought it was a famous, old Chinese fable, but then I realised it’s written by Julia Donaldson (of The Gruffalo fame)!! What was this? A Julia Donaldson book we didn’t already know? Yes!
Apart from The Gruffalo, of course, The Magic Paintbrush might actually be my favourite of her books. Told with her recognisable, simple rhyming schemes the story is about a little Chinese girl who is given a magic paintbrush — everything she paints becomes real. She then puts the paintbrush to good use, refusing to let greedy people benefit from the paintbrush. Such a beautiful, touching story, and such stunning illustrations (by Joel Stewart). The book is available from Amazon (UK and US
).
x Courtney
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Can’t believe their is another julia Donalson book, the kids will be so pleased, we have gathered quite a collection of her books, they are definitely the kid favourites. I don’t know whether you saw my comment further down, but i was wondering where i could get kit bags for pe/swimming/ballet etc.
Lily,
You can find kit bags at one of my favourite new shops, Hedgehog Shop: http://www.hedgehogshop.co.uk/catalog/everyday-c-21.html?osCsid=ab46e4094bea95462000e36ff73b8e3c
I really love these bags, exactly what i was looking for, i also love the clogs, the gingham smocks, thanks for linking to this website.
the magic paintbrush is a old chinese fable. Julia Donaldson retold the story, changing the main character to a girl.
this was the version that i grew up reading.
http://kierenmccarthy.com/2006/04/18/my-favourite-childhood-story-the-magic-paintbrush/
There is another awesome version by Demi.
http://www.amazon.com/Liang-Magic-Paintbrush-Reading-Rainbow/dp/0805008012
Aha! That makes sense! I knew it had fable-like qualities to it! Such a great story. Thank you for pointing these versions out to me.
Courtney,
Can’t tell you how much we LOVE Julia Donaldson. We discovered her while in London. I buy her books for all my friends in the States! Just bought my nephew the Magic Paintbrush. Can’t wait to read it! My other favorite is Tyrannosaurus Drip…have you read it? Check out my blog where I talk about her lovely books.
xo
E
http://urbanchiqueness.com/chique-reads-favorite-family-books/
Oh, my word! Hedgehog shop is just about my dream store! It’s like Labour and Wait for kids!