Liang and the Magic Paintbrush

Title:  Liang and the Magic Paintbrush 

Author/Illustrator: Demi/Demi 

APA Citation:  Demi. (1980). Liang and the magic paintbrush. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 

Lexile Score: AD480L-Recommended as adult read to child book (ages 8-9) 

Target Audience:  I felt as though this book might appeal to a some people both young and old.  It had a good message within the story, however, I found that culture was misrepresented in both the text and the illustrations. 

Summary:  This story was about a boy who received a magic paintbrush that would make anything he painted come to life.  He began painting for all of the poor people in his village providing them with food, cooking utensils, and even toys.  However, upon hearing of his magic paintbrush, the emperor forced the boy to use it for evil.  In the end, the emperor perished and the boy disappeared, but it was believed that he went around still painting for the poor. 

Evaluation:

	4	3	2	1
Theme/Moral	The theme/moral of the story was worthwhile and provided a non-biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was worthwhile but portrayed a somewhat biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was somewhat worthwhile, but portrayed a biased message for the reader.	Theme/moral of the story was not worthwhile and portrayed a biased message for the reader.
Characterization	Characters in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Characters in the story not were relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Illustrations	Illustrations in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were not relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Multicultural Aspects	Story provided accurate representations of  several cultures.	Story provided accurate representations of more than one culture.	Story provided accurate representation of only one culture.	Story did not provide accurate representations of  the culture discussed.
Historical Value	The story's historical references were accurate and did not convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were accurate, did not convey some biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were somewhat accurate, and did convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were not accurate, and conveyed a biased opinion of the event depicted.
Self and Social Identities	This book positively counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book attempts to counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book does not reinforce stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book reinforces stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.
Language	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, and used alternatives to generic terms.	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, but did use some generic terms.	This book did not contain "loaded" words, however, consistently used generic terms.	This book did contain "loaded words, and consistently used generic terms.
Overall Rating	I would use this book in my future classroom and recommend it to other teachers.	I would try to use this book in my future classroom and might recommend it to other teachers.	If the occasion arose, I might read this book, but probably would not recommend it.	I would not use or recommend this book.

Overall Score: 11/32 

Literary Elements: Use of quotations within a text, use of various sentence beginnings (infinitives), personification

Social Justice Elements:  Believing in self, Doing good for others, helping in any way you can 

Sample Lesson:  Although I really did not like this book because of all the stereotypical elements, I believe that if I were to use it in a lesson, I would use to explain to students why it is not an accurate depiction of the culture and what we could do to make it more politically correct.