Malala's Magic Pencil

As a girl, Malala Yousafzai enjoyed a TV show about a boy who used a magic pencil to solve problems. In child-friendly text, she first describes what she would do if she had a magic pencil: "stop time so I could sleep an extra hour every morning...erase the smell of the trash dump near our house." She wondered about her own dreams and the dreams of other girls. In her society, would they have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams? If she had that magic pencil she could change the world! "First, I would erase war, poverty, and hunger. Then I would draw girls and boys together as equals." Knowing that a magic pencil wasn't a reality, Malala began to focus on what she loved most--school, and speaking out against oppression. Yousafzai gently indicates in the book when others wanted to silence her but did not succeed, leaving the true, violent details out of this picture-book narration; minimal text on an all-black page hints at the darkness of her enemies' actions against her. The ink and watercolor illustrations by Kerascoët (a husband-and-wife team) use pastel shades and earth-tone hues to show details of the young Malala's culture and call attention to her dreams, wishes, and actions. In this book Yousafzai shows the world that it's never wrong to dream and hope. But dreaming is not enough--you have to take action and lend your voice. Yousafzai did, and continues to be that voice that speaks for all. aishah abdul-musawwir