Ian Gold

Moving, inspiring, and educational! This beautiful non-fiction picture book by Malala Yousafzai is a MUST HAVE in an elementary school classroom. This book has a lot going on in a short picture book read. The book starts off with the question, "Do you believe in magic?" Immediately, I was wondering what the book would be about. I was wondering immediately, this is a non-fiction book? Is that right? The book starts off with a young Malala desperately wanting a magic pencil. She talks about the many things she would do if she had a magic pencil. She says she would use it to put a lock on her door so that her brothers wouldn't bother her, stop time so that she could get some extra sleep in the morning, and so on. One day, Malala sees a girl and a few boys digging through a trash pile at the dumpster by her home. Malala then asks her father, why aren't they in her school? Her father explains to her that not everyone sends their children to school for various reasons. One of the biggest reasons being that those children need to be there to help their family live every day. This makes Malala sad. This gets Malala thinking, what if she had a magic pencil that could help those in need and change the world? Eventually, in the book, men from her home country declared girls were forbidden from attending school. Malala decides to speak out, and write about her feelings. Her voice was eventually heard by many and many people were interested in her story. People from around the world join Malala and raise more voices. She then realizes that she has finally found her magic pencil, and realized that magic truly is real! The book ends with Malala reminding us that we have the power to make the world a better place. I love the way this book teaches young readers that every child's voice deserves to be heard and that everyone is equally entitled to an education. It teaches children that they have the power to have a magic pencil. I enjoy that the book starts out as a form of entertainment, and then shows Malala growing older, helping solve real world problems. This is the type of book we should be showing to the future of our society. Amazing book, Malala!