A tale of friendship, beauty and mortality

'I don't think I have read anything like this before – a tale of life, death love and beauty that by the storyteller's art makes those things true, fresh, real and important. I hope this unforgettable story finds all the readers it deserves.'
–Philip Pullman

Long, long ago, a boy lies confined by sickness to his windowless bedchambers. He can never experience the outside world, never breathe fresh air or feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, so his doting father summons a painter to embellish his rooms with beautiful murals.

The artist sets to work, and soon there is a fabulous world on the walls, a colorful, shifting landscape peopled by shepherds and lovers, criss-crossed by armies and pirate ships. As the boy’s health fades, the artist paints on, turning the simple commission into a generous labor of love. Can he show this child the richness and beauty of the world—and of life itself—with nothing but paints and brushes?