I loved the rhyme, it felt very easy but not simplistic or childish with fantastic rhythm and almost musical (singing?) quality to it. The story is told in rhyme, but it's not the couplet type of rhyme with slightly alternating repetitions encountered in Donaldson/Scheffler books the Magic Paintbrush offers an altogether more epic story told in a more grown-up way. Will she get out? Will she defend her village from the Emperor's wrath? Eventually, the Emperor hears of her and her magic brush and orders her to paint him a tree growing coins. And so she does, painting first the supper for her family, and then things of necessity for the villagers. But the brush comes with a warning: she is never to paint for wealthy folk, and only for the poor. A mysterious man gives her a magic paintbrush: everything painted with the brush will come to life. Shen, a girl from a poor Chinese village, draws pictures in the sand when send by her family to gather oysters for supper. Magic Paintbrush retells an old folk story and does it well indeed. It is, however, a wonderful one and to be honest, I personally like it better than the other ones, though there isn't really much comparison to be made as their intentions and styles are different. 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. 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. Highly recommended for children aged 4 to about 9, and parents should enjoy it too. Today as well as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.Summary: This book offers rhymed retelling of a traditional Chinese folk story perfect for reading aloud, with beautiful illustrations and strong message about greed and artistic responsibilities. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. After two years at Marquette University, Yep transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. However, it was while attending high school that he started writing for a science fiction magazine, being paid one cent a word for his efforts. During high school he faced the white American culture for the first time. Other students at the school, according to Yep, labeled him a 'dumbbell Chinese' because he spoke only English. They later married and now live in San Francisco.Īlthough not living in Chinatown, Yep commuted to a parochial bilingual school there. Joanne Ryder, a children's book author, and Yep met and became friends during college while she was his editor. He was in his own words his neighborhood's 'all-purpose Asian' and did not feel he had a culture of his own. Growing up in San Francisco, Yep felt alienated.

After troubling times during the Depression, he was able to open a grocery store in an African-American neighborhood. Yep's father, Thomas, was born in China and came to America at the age of ten where he lived, not in Chinatown, but with an Irish friend in a white neighborhood. Franche Lee, her family's youngest child, was born in Ohio and raised in West Virginia where her family owned a Chinese laundry. Born Jin San Francisco, California, Yep was the son of Thomas Gim Yep and Franche Lee Yep.

Magic paintbrush