Brush of the Gods

The writing is fantastic with excellent word choice and imagery. The main character Wu Daozi was easy to empathize with and imagine. The greatest strength of the book is its seamless weaving of realism and legend. The book starts as a realistic tale of a daydreaming boy who fails at calligraphy only to become a great artist. Then it transitions to a tale in which painted butterflies soar off the page and the artist walks into his own painting. All in all, quite a feat.

Wu Daozi is said to be one of China's greatest painters, and this magnificently crafted visual feast combining the work of Lenore Look and Meilo So captures the artist's life from childhood to his disappearance into one of his paintings - or so legend has it. As a youth, Daozi marched to a different drummer as he created - never quite doing what the others in the class were doing, but in the end far exceeding them Speaking to the creative process, this book would charm listeners. Look is never heavy handed but does convey the message that being boastful is not okay. Only when staying humble did Daozi have a following.

This was a beautifully written and illustrated Chinese story. The pictures were so detailed and colorful and really captured the Chinese people in a great way. The story was very mystifying as well. It can be a multicultural read about some of the history of China and of this man whose paintings came off the walls. It has great imagination and would spark the interest of a child instantly. There are many words so it would be a good read aloud story or for an older child.

I found this book very interesting and I would recommend it. It talks about Wu Daozi and how he came to be an important part of Chinese culture. I enjoyed how the story started of him as a young boy and followed him through his adulthood. It talks about children looking up to him and looking forward to his painting. For example, "The children followed Wu Daozi everywhere." He had followers from a young age on, and people believed in him. The way his paintings came alive inspired people to believe in things not everyone believed in. When the emperor asks him to create a mural it shows how respected he was, which is an important message young people need to learn. I enjoyed how creative the pictures in the book were because it looked like show more the illustrator was very into his illustrations and took pride in his culture. show less

A beautifully illustrated tale about Wu Daozi, a real painter from the Tang Dynasty. Look puts a delightful, magical spin on this biographical story. Daozi's paintings were so realistic, they jumped right off the wall and ran away! The artwork by Meilo So is fantastically detailed and intricate and gives rich depictions of what everyday life was like in China during this time. The book has a whimsical feel and the additional information on the last page adds intrigue. Great for a unit on art or ancient China.

This is a very inspired story about Wu Daozi. It talks about how he was very creative in writing class as a child. He would paint amazing, inspired paintings of all types of animals. Legend says that his paintings would come to life. The book says that, "The children followed Daozi everywhere. As long as he painted, they forgot their hunger." The book really captured the importance of his art throughout the book My favorite part about the book is the artwork. It really captures the real characteristics of Asian art. I think that children would learn a lot about this culture's artwork, as well as about the famous Wu Daozi. I also thought the note at the end of the book was very interesting. It tells the readers that the legend says that show more Daozi never died and that he actually entered his last painting. I think that children would find that very interesting and it might interest them to learn more! show less

I really loved this story - the artwork was beautiful and the story itself was larger than life and magical, but still based on a real person. Students will definitely respond to the magical elements of the story, and it's a great way to introduce American students to a popular traditional tale from another culture.