The Boy Who Painted The World

By Author / Illustrator

Tom McLaughlin

Genre

Personal Growth

Age range(s)

Publisher

OUP Children's Books

ISBN

9780192785343

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

04-07-2024

Synopsis

When a boy stumbles into a blank book, he thinks it looks very empty . . . until he meets a determined paintbrush. Although the boy is certain that he can't draw or paint, he's encouraged to try - and the results are surprising.

An ordinary square can become a dumper truck, and a messy blob of paint can become a Messy-saurus (that's a scribbly sort of dinosaur). In fact, it soon becomes clear that anything can be turned into something. With a bit of imagination, the possibilities are endless!

Written and illustrated by bestselling author Tom McLaughlin, The Boy Who Painted The World is a celebration of creativity and turning mistakes into magic.

Find out more about inspiring children to be creative from author Tom McLaughlin

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Reviews

Wendy

A lovely book, masquerading as a story, which is actually written to encourage you to let your inner artist out.

The boy in the story is an accidental artist. He knocks paint over and is anxious about making a mess but luckily the helpful paintbrushes are on hand to encourage him to look at the spills and splodges another way. They encourage him to draw simple shapes, praising wobbly lines as a being a feature. They then help him to turn them into all sorts of strange and wonderful things; a dragon, a robot, a steam train, an army of cats.... As the boy grows in confidence, he decides to paint the world and populate it with all his amazing painted creations.

The Boy Who Painted The World is the perfect book as a stimulus for those children who don't like making a mess, who worry about doing it wrongly, about outcomes not being perfect. It shows we can all be artists, no matter what we produce. It's a great tool for planning sessions for developing younger children's art skills. You could spend a whole term following the boy's art adventures and having their own go; painting shapes, colour mixing, inventing and refining. This could also inform a wonderful Art Week in EYFS/Key Stage One which would produce some lovely displays, if you want a change from using The Dot or The Day the Crayons Quit.

Picture book / Reviewed by Wendy Kelly, teacher

Maria

Wow! This book is absolutely full of opportunity for imaginative development. From seeing an imperfection as something quite perfect and boosting self-esteem, to shapes and their properties, colour mixing and endless imaginative ideas, this book is perfect for any classroom or home.

The Boy Who Painted The World is the tale of a little boy who wanders into a book (don't we just wish that this really was possible!) and discovers what appears to be a huge empty space. Except it's not, there are paint pots everywhere - and a magic paintbrush to help him transform the empty pages.

When the boy notices the trail of mess and colour that he has left, he soon realises that actually 'with a messy blob and a bit of imagination' he can create anything and everything. A great story adventure.

Picture book / Reviewed by Maria Faithorn, teacher