Dadaji's Paintbrush
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Once, in a tiny village in India, there was a young boy who loved to paint. He lived with his grandfather, who taught him to paint with his fingers, to make paints from marigolds and brushes made from jasmine flowers. Sometimes, the village children would watch them painting together, and the boy's grandfather would invite them to join in.
They didn't have much, but they had each other.
After his grandfather dies, the boy notices a little box wrapped in string with a note that read: "From Dadaji, with love," with his grandfather's best paintbrush tucked away inside. But he feels he will never want to paint again.
Will the boy overcome his grief and find joy in painting and his dadaji's memory again?
From Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Ruchi Mhasane comes a lushly illustrated tale of love, art, and family.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A boy lives with his beloved grandfather, Dadaji, in a "tiny village in India." They do everything together, but mostly they paint, and their love for the medium draws other children in. Bespectacled, mustachioed Dadaji is an indelible character, exuding grace, wisdom, and a quiet energy; after he departs, the boy locks away all the art materials, including Dadaji's finest paintbrush, and disconnects from the world. When a girl appears at his doorstep insisting on painting lessons, though, inspiration is rekindled. The boy reconnects with his talents, his love of painting, and, most importantly, the spirit of Dadaji. Via Sirdeshpande's restrained but deeply empathic narrative voice and Mhasane's digitally enhanced colored pencil and pastel pictures, which capture light in almost incandescent colors, this proves a moving tribute to the role of mentors and memory in a young artist's life, as well as to what "time and attention" can bring about. An author's note discusses the book's beginnings. Ages 4–8.
