The Magic Brush

The Magic Brush- This story is a wonderful way to introduce a child to both Chinese characters and its culture.  "Jasmine loves spending time with her agong -grandfather- while her little brother, Tai-Tai, is napping.  Agong teaches her calligraphy, and through the Chinese charactes they draw together, they create a magical world full of flying fish, monkeys, and mythical dragons.  And when the time is right, Jasmine will pass on the traditions to Tai-Tai too . . ."

Inside the book, characters take on life and children can see the pictures behind the pictographic characters:  月, 星, 山, 林, 川, 舟, 水, 魚, 炎, 朋, 馬, 龍, and 公.  At the back of the book is a pronunciation key of each of these characters as well as their meanings.

I should also point out that is available at the North liberty Public Library; The title is The Magic Brush and the call number is under PRIMARY, Author Yeh.