Summary: As a child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil. She would use it to make everyone happy, to erase the smell of garbage from her city, to sleep an extra hour in the morning. But as she grew older, Malala saw that there were more important things to wish for. She saw a world that needed fixing. And even if she never found a magic pencil, Malala realized that she could still work hard every day to make her wishes come true.

This beautifully illustrated volume tells Malala's story for a younger audience and shows them the worldview that allowed Malala to hold on to hope even in the most difficult of times.

Author and Illustrator Background:

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become "the most prominent citizen" of the country. This is her first picture book. She also wrote a best selling memoir I Am Malala with a young adult adaptation and blogged for the BBC which brought her notoriety.

Kerascoët, a husband-and-wife team who work collaboratively in Paris, are the illustrators of the highly acclaimed graphic novel Beautiful Darkness by Fabie Vehlmann, which was chosen by Publishers Weekly as a 2014 Best Book of the Year, and the New York Times bestselling Jacky Ha-Ha by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. Kirkus called Kerascoët’s artwork “perfectly delightful” in a starred review of their book Paul and Antoinette. They are also the illustrators of Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai. Inspired by real events, their book I Walk with Vanessa explores the feelings of helplessness and anger that arise in the wake of seeing a classmate treated badly, and shows how a single act of kindness can lead to an entire community joining in to help. By choosing only pictures to tell their story, the creators underscore the idea that someone can be an ally without having to say a word. They work in pen, pencil, ink and watercolor and create animations as well as cartoons and illustrations. Their pen name is derived from the small villlage Kerascoët close to where Marie was raised in Brittany, France.