Malala's Magic Pencil

Little Brown Books

for Young Readers

(pub.10.17.2017)

48 pages 

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Malala Yousafzai

      and illustrator: Kerascoet

          (pseudonym of husband-and-wife team,

            Sebastien Cosset and Marie Pommepuy)

C haracter: Malala Yousafzai

O verview from the jacket flap: 

     "When Malala was a child in Pakistan, she wished for a magic pencil. She would use it to ... "draw a lock on her door to keep her brothers out ... stop time so she could sleep an extra hour every morning. ... erase the smell of the trash dump near her home." 

     But as Malala grew, her world changed and so did her wishes. Her right to attend school was threatened - just because she's a girl.  Instead of a magic pencil, Malala now picked up a real one. She wrote alone in her room about the challenges she faced, but people from all over read her words.

     And her wishes started to come true."
  

T antalizing taste:        

  

    "My father had always said, 'Malala will live free as a bird.'

     Now I wondered how free I'd truly be.

     That night I thought about families who didn't have enough food. And the girl who couldn't go to school. And even about how when I was older, I would be expected to cook and clean for my brothers, because where I came from, many girls weren't allowed to become what they dreamed of."

and something more: A new year and new beginnings -- so I wanted to begin with a story of hope. I was moved by the courageous story of Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of seventeen: "Malala first came to public attention by writing for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban using the pen name Gul Makai. The Taliban had forbidden girls in her region from going to school Soon, she began to speak publicly about girls' education in her community.  In October 2012, Malala was targeted by the Taliban and attacked as she was returning home from school She miraculously survived.

     Malala and her family now live in Birmingham, England, and she travels the world speaking about the importance of education for all."