The Magic Paintbrush

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This lovely KS1 differentiated reading comprehension activity tells the Chinese folk story of 'The Magic Paintbrush'. The story sends out the message to be kind and to put generosity over greed. Once upon a time, there was a young man called Ma Liang. He was poor and kind and helped a rich man to tend cattle. He liked drawing and drew pictures everywhere. One night, he dreamed that an old man gave him a magic paintbrush and asked him to use it to help poor people. When he woke up, he found the magic paintbrush in his desk. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books. But once he had painted it, the bowl stayed exactly where it was. Digby put out a finger and felt it – perhaps it was cold? But no, it was steaming and warm and cosy like the nicest dessert you’ve ever eaten on a cold winter’s day. It was impossible that a tiger who liked porridge would not like this bowl of porridge.

To discover what happens in this exciting and heart-warming story, you will have to read it for yourself... I will say, however, that there is a happy ending. He didn’t stop to think that the little dot was purple, and he had only used red and green paints (which as we know, together don’t make purple at all!). He just put down his paintbrush, and with his little finger, rubbed the paper very gently, to see if the spot would come off.

But maybe….” Arthur said, then they looked at each other and thought of something. They said together: “Dinosaurs!” The man had told her not to paint for the rich and only the poor. This relates to the morals within Robin Hood where the poor receive and the rich do not. I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. The dinosaur is alive!” said Digby. “I painted him just now, and when I had finished painting him in, I think I spiked my finger on him! He’s really sharp! And he’s hungry. He’s already eaten one big bowl of porridge, a chocolate with a heart in the middle, and some jelly snakes.”

Digby shrugged. “That wouldn’t be so bad,” he said. “Your tooth is already a bit wobbly, isn’t it?” There wasn’t much time. The tiger seemed to swivel its hungry little eye towards the pretty antelope. He said to the young man, "If you draw some pictures for me and bring them to life, I will set you free."Just then, as he was about to call his big brother Arthur, the dinosaur took one beady little eye and turned it towards Digby. He heard a tiny ROAR! like the sound of someone’s television on a different floor. Could it have been his dinosaur? He didn’t dare touch the mouth… When he saw it was difficult for people to till lands, he drew a cow and the cow came to life. People could use the cow to till lands very easily. Oh it’s no good, you couldn’t” said Arthur. “It would have to be a different one. But look at my picture. There’s no room on it for another dinosaur. No room at all for any big animals. Look, here’s the tiger, and here’s the antelope, and there’s no more space for another big animal.”