Overview

"""Kindness is packed with excellent tales that will surprise and delight readers while introducing them to the diversity of religious traditions."" ―John Green, Booklist Following the Buddha through his various transformations, these clarified, often humorous narrative journeys open the ancient masters profound and gentle teachings to persons of all ages, religions, races, and ideological persuasions. Over and over this marvelous book tells us, ""let go of your anger, your fear, your greedy desire. Embrace gladness. Follow the path."" And the stories themselves, simply as stories, form a wondrous pageant of elephants, monkeys, monks, and men working through foolishness toward wisdom and delight. This collection of traditional Buddhist tales leads us to the kind of implicit understanding of ourselves and others that only stories can provide."

Full Product Details

Author:   Sarah Conover ,  Valerie Wahl
Publisher:   Skinner House Books
Imprint:   Skinner House Books
Dimensions:   Width: 22.80cm , Height: 1.00cm , Length: 19.00cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781558965683

ISBN 10:   1558965688
Pages:   182
Publication Date:   15 July 2010
Recommended Age:   From 11 to 14 years
Audience:   Children/juvenile ,  Children's (6-12)
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

To The Young Reader Preface Stories and Sayings Birdsnest The Mustard Seed The Elephant and the Wind: A Jataka Tale The Monk’s Heavy Load When the Horse Runs Off The Noble Ibex: A Jataka Tale Heaven and Hell Many Elephants The Worth of Cherry Blossoms The Span of Life Teaching a Thief Anger Gifts for the Robber The Quarrelsome Quails: A Jataka Tale Two Teachers and Tea The Buddha and the Brahmins The Broom Master The Old Teacher’s Test: A Jataka Tale Prince Dighavu A Man, Two Tigers, and a Strawberry The Dung Beetle: A Jataka Tale Castles of Sand The Mice Who Taught the Monk to Smile The Monkey King: A Jataka Tale Mr. Kitagaki Great Joy the Ox: A Jataka Tale The Thief Within The Prince and the Monster: A Jataka Tale Perfecting Patience The Party The Art of Attention The Scared Little Rabbit: A Jataka Tale Sources of Sayings Story Sources Further Resources for Children

Reviews

Many American children know the parable of the mustard seed told in the New Testament. Few, however, have been exposed to the equally compelling Buddhist story of the mustard seed. In this parable, the Buddha tells a woman who has lost her child to seek out mustard seeds from families that have not been exposed to death. In doing so, the woman learns the universality of grief. Thirty-one such stories have been masterfully adapted and translated by Conover to transmit the soft, lyrical voice of the originals. These include Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha in past incarnations, which are widely read and retold to Buddhist children throughout the world. Populated with sticky-haired dragons, verbose monkeys, and strange-looking monks, and illustrated in pleasant, sepia-tone pictures contributed by Valerie Wahl, Kindness is packed with excellent tales that will surprise and delight readers while introducing them to the diversity of religious traditions. -John Green, Booklist--Reviews Most of these 32 stories are only a few pages long, and the longer ones seem drawn out. Wry, rather than humorous, many are less-known Jataka tales. The traditions of India, Japan, and Tibet are well represented, while China and other Buddhist-influenced countries are not. Although many of these stories resemble fables, their level of language as well as the parablelike meanings demand skillful readers. Oblique as many tales are, readers must be good interpreters, alert to implications. The vocabulary ( asceticism, gratification, enlightenment ) in the Young Reader introductions signals is level of sophistication. The narrative style is sometimes arch ( sprite, thee ), sometimes moralizing. The dozen full-page illustration are fine line drawings, whose realistic style helps ground these spiritual anecdotes. Each story is preceded by a wise saying, providing attractive and accessible nuggets of Buddhist thought. Sources for sayings and stories appear in a valuable annotated bibliography. this is not a complete introduction to the religion, but its ethos, much as a collection of parables would be for Christianity. Although there are several similar compilations in print, the growth of Buddhism in the U.S. might provide a demand for this one, too. -Patricia Lothrop, School Library Journal--Reviews

Many American children know the parable of the mustard seed told in the New Testament. Few, however, have been exposed to the equally compelling Buddhist story of the mustard seed. In this parable, the Buddha tells a woman who has lost her child to seek out mustard seeds from families that have not been exposed to death. In doing so, the woman learns the universality of grief. Thirty-one such stories have been masterfully adapted and translated by Conover to transmit the soft, lyrical voice of the originals. These include Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha in past incarnations, which are widely read and retold to Buddhist children throughout the world. Populated with sticky-haired dragons, verbose monkeys, and strange-looking monks, and illustrated in pleasant, sepia-tone pictures contributed by Valerie Wahl, Kindness is packed with excellent tales that will surprise and delight readers while introducing them to the diversity of religious traditions. -John Green, Booklist-- Reviews Most of these 32 stories are only a few pages long, and the longer ones seem drawn out. Wry, rather than humorous, many are less-known Jataka tales. The traditions of India, Japan, and Tibet are well represented, while China and other Buddhist-influenced countries are not. Although many of these stories resemble fables, their level of language as well as the parablelike meanings demand skillful readers. Oblique as many tales are, readers must be good interpreters, alert to implications. The vocabulary (asceticism, gratification, enlightenment) in the Young Reader introductions signals is level of sophistication. The narrative style is sometimes arch (sprite, thee), sometimes moralizing. The dozen full-page illustration are fine line drawings, whose realistic style helps ground these spiritual anecdotes. Each story is preceded by a wise saying, providing attractive and accessible nuggets of Buddhist thought. Sources for sayings and stories appear in a valuable annotated bibliography. this is not a complete introduction to the religion, but its ethos, much as a collection of parables would be for Christianity. Although there are several similar compilations in print, the growth of Buddhism in the U.S. might provide a demand for this one, too. -Patricia Lothrop, School Library Journal-- Reviews

Many American children know the parable of the mustard seed told in the New Testament. Few, however, have been exposed to the equally compelling Buddhist story of the mustard seed. In this parable, the Buddha tells a woman who has lost her child to seek out mustard seeds from families that have not been exposed to death. In doing so, the woman learns the universality of grief. Thirty-one such stories have been masterfully adapted and translated by Conover to transmit the soft, lyrical voice of the originals. These include Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha in past incarnations, which are widely read and retold to Buddhist children throughout the world. Populated with sticky-haired dragons, verbose monkeys, and strange-looking monks, and illustrated in pleasant, sepia-tone pictures contributed by Valerie Wahl, Kindness is packed with excellent tales that will surprise and delight readers while introducing them to the diversity of religious traditions. John Green, Booklist

Author Information

Sarah Conover has written six books on world wisdom traditions and the spiritual education of families. Her interests lie in building bridges of understanding between people of differing world cultures and wisdom traditions. As a former high-school teacher, she strived to bring multicultural perspectives to her students by collaborating with other educators worldwide. She was the recipient of two U.S. State Department grants that brought U.S. teachers to the Middle East to initiate classroom collaborations between students in the two regions. Sarah lives in Spokane, Washington, where she teaches creative writing and Buddhist meditation. Valerie Wahl is a graduate of Washington State University where she studied Fine Art. She is the illustrator of Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents and Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents.

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