Tara and the Paintbrush That Came Alive
Everything Tara paints with a magic paintbrush comes to life. What will she paint?
Tara found an old paintbrush in a dusty shop. The shopkeeper, Sia the elephant, smiled. ‘Take it. It’s a special one,’ she said. ‘But I’ll let you find out why.’
At home, Tara painted a small, wobbly circle on a piece of paper. The circle wriggled. It wobbled. It popped off the page, and became a real, round, juicy apple. ‘Whoa!’ said Tara.
Tara painted a blue boat. It came right off the paper. Tara painted more things, and the room got fuller and funnier by the minute. Tara laughed and laughed. ‘I’m going to paint the best things!’
But one rainy afternoon, Tara heard a sad little sound. At the door was Luca the frog, wet and shivering. ‘I’m cold,’ said Luca, ‘and I’ve got nowhere to go.’
Tara knew just what to paint. She painted a warm, cosy bed, soft blankets, and a bowl of hot soup. Out they came, steaming and snug. Luca’s eyes grew round and happy.
‘Thank you,’ said Luca. ‘You’ve given me everything I need.’ Tara realised that the best thing the brush could paint wasn’t a toy or a treat. It was a little bit of kindness.
From then on, Tara used the magic brush only to help people. And Luca stayed on as Tara’s best friend, the very best painting of all.
The little lesson
Use your gifts to make others happy, and the world gets a little brighter.
Let’s talk about it
- If you had a paintbrush like that, what would you paint?
- What would you paint for a friend?
Finish stories to collect Tara as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
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