Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Bedtime Story: Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

Read for: Children's Book Challenge

Synopsis: ""Michael," said Karl. "There's a really big bear in the backyard." This is how three children meet Stillwater, a giant panda who moves into the neighborhood and tells amazing tales. To Addy he tells a story about the value of material goods. To Michael he pushes the boundaries of good and bad. And to Karl he demonstrates what it means to hold on to frustration. With graceful art and simple stories that are filled with love and enlightenment, Jon Muth -- and Stillwater the bear -- present three ancient Zen tales that are sure to strike a chord in everyone they touch."

My Review: Munchkin and I previously read Zen Ties, which I guess is the 2nd book in this series, while this is the first, but it doesn't really seem to matter the order you read them in. Zen Ties had a lot of Haiku poems in it which we really enjoyed and I was expecting the same with this one, but that was not the case. This instead included a few wonderful folk tales. These folk tales had some really great lessons and messages about frustration, the value of things and people. They are great lessons for both children to hear and adults and they sparked some great conversations between Munchkin and I. The story about holding on to anger and frustration really resonated with me personally. While it wasn't what we had expected, it was a fantastic book to read.

My Rating: We really enjoyed this book and all the wisdom packed into simple stories.  We give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.


Good Night! Sweet Dreams!



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