The+Magic+Paintbrush

Book Review by Andrea Torrani

// The Magic Paintbrush // by Liz Miles, Illustrated by Meilo So Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011 Series: Oxford reading tree. Stage 5, Traditional tales
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Language: English Reading level: Ages 5-7 ISBN: 9780198339489 Paperback: 24 pages


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Liz Miles has published over 60 children’s works. She has published everything from video, podcasts, short stories, and traditional tales—all for primary age readers. She was born in Hong Kong and educated in the UK. Meilo So has received international acclaim for her graphic style, which is mostly in watercolor, ink or gouache style.

Ho is a poor farmhand who works for a rich farmer. He does not make much money and receives only dry, stale bread to eat. When approached by an old, hungry man, Ho gives him the little bread that he has in order to help. As a gift for his kindness, the old man gives Ho a magic paintbrush. Later on, after making paint from berries and plants, Ho begins to paint. Suddenly he realizes that everything he paints becomes real. He begins to paint clothes and food for the hungry people of his village, turning the once poor community into one of happiness and health. When the rich farmer finds out about the paintbrush, he becomes jealous and locks Ho in jail, taking the paintbrush. Yet, the magic of the paintbrush does not work for the old man. He demands that Ho paints him a pile of gold, but Ho paints this gold in the middle of a sea. In order to get to the gold, the farmer requested a boat. As the farmer is sailing towards the gold to receive his unwarranted riches, Ho paints a gate and does not allow the farmer back into the village.
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This book has a great moral message: good things come to those who are good to others. The magic would not work for the mean, greedy farmer because he did not treat others properly. Ho, on the other hand, gave his food to a hungry man even though it was all he had. His generosity benefitted him in the end because he was able to help his family and friends live a better life. The illustrations in the book are exquisite and give the reader a very accurate and clear picture of what is occurring. The book is simple enough for beginning readers and instills a meaningful message that everyone should enact within their own life.
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The writing style of this book uses a lot of dialogue, which allows the reader to experience the story first hand. Because of this extensive use of dialogue, this would be a good book to use as an example when teaching students how to write dialogue. I would use this book to reinforce synonyms for the word “said” when constructing dialogue. For example this book uses the words: ordered, shouted, thought, laughed, etc. in place of said. By using this book and reading the dialogue that occurs, students will understand when it is acceptable to include dialogue when writing their own stories. Also, since the dialogue in this story adds a lot more depth, this book could be used to show how dialogue enriches writing and makes it more dynamic.
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