The Magic Paintbrush

     In this book, acclaimed author Laurence Yep wove an interesting tale of fantasy.  In the story, an orphan named steve is failing in art class because of an old worn paintbrush. Although his grandfather cannot affort a new one, he presents Steve with a magic paintbrush that can make whatever he paints real.  It is not before long that the boy paints his way into his grandfather's Chinatown homeland.  In Chinatown, Steve learns about the heritage of his grandfather.  Along the way, his grandfather has many things to teach him.  Not long thereafter, their hateful landlord finds the secret of the paintbrush, but finds out that magic can be dangerous.  Although this tale is infused with abandonment and sorrow, good does win over bad. 
    After reading this book, I was struck by the complexity of the relationships in the book.  Over time, the characters show themselves to be much more multifacetd and interesting.  This was refreshing to me, since children's book authors often portray characters in such simple, one-dimensional ways.  I enjoyed reading a book with round characters.  I can relate to the grandfather in the book, since he reminds me of my father.  I believe that this makes the book more endearing to me.  Although, I was not abandoned as a child, I do believe that many of my students will be able to relate to this character.  I was pleased to find that the plot of this book took so many twists and turns.  It is simple yet complex all the while.

Other Picture Books by Laurence Yep

1. The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale
2. The Butterfly Boy
3. The Shell Woman and the King: a Chinese folktale
4. The Khan's Daughter: a Mongolian folktale
5. When the Circus Came to Town
6. The Ghost Fox
7. The Boy Who Swallowed Snakes
8. The Man who Tricked a Ghost

Other Books by Laurence Yep

1. Tongues of Jade
2. The Rainbow People
3. Sweetwater
4. The Star Fisher
5. Hiroshima: A Novella
6. The Earth Dragon Awakes: the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
7. The Imp that Ate My Homework
8. Kind Hearts and Gentle Monsters
9. The Mark Twain Murders
10. The Tom Sawyer Fires
11. Shadow Lord (a Star Trek novel)