Malala's Magic Pencil

By Malala Yousafzai, Kerascoët (illustrator),

Book cover of Malala's Magic Pencil

Book description

** Shortlisted for the Little Rebels Children's Book Award! **

As a child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil that she could use to redraw reality. She would use it for good; to give gifts to her family, to erase the smell from the rubbish dump…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Malala's Magic Pencil as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In Malala’s own kid’s eye view of the world, she tells how she yearned for a magic pencil, like the boy in a TV show she watched, so she could magically make the world a better place. One of the fortunate girls in Afghanistan who was sent to school because her parents believed strongly in education for women, she eventually realized she had that magic pencil already. Her words, her voice, could bring change. This is an empowering book for kids to see that they can make a difference in their world from one of the heroes of their time.

From Kathryn's list on fascinating people.

Though I was initially skeptical about "another" Malala book, this one is a delight. Lyrically written with magical illustrations, it's Malala Yousafzai's story as told (by herself) for the picture book crowd. Malala explains how as a girl in Pakistan, she enjoyed a television program about a boy with a magic pencil. She fantasized what she'd do with such a tool. Meanwhile, she took school for granted until the Taliban arrived and banned girls from school. Then, with her family's support, she began to speak out for girls' right to education.

This book introduces the notion of how people's rights…

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