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.

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. As well as writing and illustrating wonderfully quirky books, Joel is a keen banjo player and adores comic strips. 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 tells the story of Shen who receives a magical paintbrush with instructions to paint for the poor as the paintings come to life. The big difference is that the main character is now female and so is easier for her to identify with. Clever book with wonderful problem solving skills shown and a delightful tale of a little girl with a moral task to complete. This edition features a stunning redesigned cover, making it a must-have addition to the bookshelves of all Donaldson fans – big and small! She is determined to keep her promise to paint only for the poor, but how can she match the emperor's mighty power?

Complimented by beautiful water colour illustrations which brings out the purity of the underlying message, the story gently builds up to a dramatic climax.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. It can also be a springboard to explore Chinese culture and celebrations for children, particularly Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac. With her magic paintbrush, Shen can paint steaming pots full of fish and oysters to feed the hungry people in her village.

The Magic Paintbrush is a traditional Chinese folktale, dealing with themes of justice and integrity. 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. 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. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.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. An enchanting tale told in catchy rhyming verses true to JD style, this story will capture the imagination of children and grown ups. 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. Julia Donaldson is the outrageously talented, prize-winning author of some of the world's best-loved children's books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child , which together have sold over 17 million copies worldwide, and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures.