SOLVED. Novel based on the Chinese folk tale "The Magic Paintbrush" [s]

[Rosa]

This is a children's novel based on "The Magic Paintbrush", but I don't think it's The Magic Paintbrush by Laurence Yep. It is about a young man who discovers a magic paintbrush that can make anything he paints real. There is also a grandfather and a talking monkey, who may or may not have been the same person. The monkey tries to paint a banana for himself, but it turns into only a wooden banana - it is discovered that only the young man can use the paintbrush to make real things. A girl who is his love interest explains this to him, using the analogy of the warmth of a blanket really being your own body heat.

[Angel]

Could it be The Magic Paintbrush by Robin Muller?

[Ann aka Iftcan]

The Magic Paintbrush is the click for Angel's suggestion.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Jen, are you still looking for this? Was it "The Magic Paintbrush" by Robin Muller?

[Linda Lomonaco]

Try "Ma Lien & The Magic Brush"

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Ma Lien and the Magic Brush for Linda's suggestion's click.

[Rosa]

Thanks for the suggestions, but it's neither Robin Muller's (it wasn't Westernized) nor Hisako Kimishima's (it wasn't a picture book) version of the tale. I had no idea there were so many adaptations of The Magic Paintbrush!

[Tab]

How many years ago did you read this? anything about the cover?

[Cheryl]

Here's a bump for summer. Come back in a couple of months and bump it again, ok?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

A Brush with Magic?
Liang, an orphan boy with a magic paintbrush that brings to life whatever he paints, travels to the court of the Emperor of China to find his fortune and true love.

"has a number of close shaves involving a human-faced monkey (his own creation)"

"Quick-witted Liang paints himself out of every predicament (a dragon and a ship are among his larger artifacts), meanwhile learning that his true magic is not in the brush but in his own creativity (an insight somewhat muddled by the fact that others also use the brush, though with problematic results)."

[Rosa]

It's definitely that one! Thanks, Lobstergirl!

[Rosa]

Took 5 years, but this group seems to always pull through!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Yay. We like to see old threads solved.