Shen's magic paintbrush can paint food for the hungry and clothes for the needy, but all the greedy emperor wants is greater riches for himself. But Shen has made a promise to paint only for the poor and it is a promise that she'll never break. Presented in the style of a traditional Chinese tale. Suggested level: junior, primary.

This magical folktale tells of a boy who awakes from a dream with a paintbrush that brings his drawings to life. He paints tools, cows, and food for his village, and teaches a greedy emperor a lesson.

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts--even as she falls in love with a faerie prince--in this gorgeous debut novel. 6 x 9.

In the early 1980s, Yvonne Maximchuk, a single mother of two, was living in Whiterock, BC, and making a living as a working artist and art instructor. Then she fell in love with Albert, a crab fisherman who fished the waters of Boundary Bay. Drawn to his seemingly idyllic life and her desire for connection with the natural world, Yvonne and her children moved with Albert to Echo Bay, a tiny settlement east of Vancouver Island. Life in this remote community was a lot different from life in the city: there was no running water and electricity had to be generated. The closest grocery store was two hours away by boat, and even a small emergency could be life threatening. But in spite of the challenges, they persevered, building a homestead and thriving "off the grid." In this new life, Yvonne learned to do things she had only dreamed of. She cleared land, helped build their home and got to know the community of hardy folks who were always there to help one another. Soon after arriving in Echo Bay, Yvonne met Billy Proctor, a BC coastal icon and fisherman. Intrigued by his life on the sea, she asked to join him as he fished the coast looking for chinook and sockeye salmon, ling cod and tuna. Eight seasons of fishing with Billy took her on many adventures to the challenging waters and enchanting islands of BC. Inspired, she captured on canvas the mysteries and treasures of the wild Pacific coast. In Drawn to Sea Yvonne creates stunning, lyrical word pictures of her home in the Broughton Archipelago. Making the most of the tools available, from paintbrush to chainsaw, she has flourished in this remote area, carving out a home and a career in a place far from just about everyone.

When a woodcutter finds a pot that magically duplicates anything that is placed inside it, he and his wife are delighted until the wife accidentally falls in.

Winner of the 2004 Prix Saint-Exup�ry, an award given yearly to the best illustrated picture book in France by the family of The Little Prince author, Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry . In the big gray city, Lived a little boy who never played... With A Blue So Blue, Jean-Fran�ois Dumont has created an outstanding picture book that will dazzle the eye, stir the imagination, and warm the heart. The exquisitely written tale whisks children off of a fantastic journey across land and sea. Every page features breathtaking paintings, rich in color and detail. It is simply a magical tour de force of illustration and storytelling. The adventure begins with a little boy's marvelous dream of a perfect blue, a blue both soft and strong, a blue so blue you want to curl up inside it. Armed with a paintbrush, he travels the globe in search of this special color--from a famous art gallery to a mid-Atlantic fishing boat, from a remote blues club in the Mississippi Delta to a sun-drenched desert with a purple sky--only to realize that what he was looking for was right in his very own home after all.