Not an introduction to Buddhism but may spark an interest in mindfulness or meditation.
Everything is connected; a rose provides the path.
A group of brown-skinned children sit under a tree with the Buddha, depicted as a brown-skinned man. He holds a rose and is silent. The children are a bit confused, and one child, who narrates, stares and breathes and closes their eyes. Suddenly, the narrator is transported by the rose-ness of the flower. Its scent and its shape speak to them wordlessly. They imagine its journey from seed to flower as well as the weather it has enjoyed and endured. The child thinks of the bees that have visited it and the honey they have made as well as the uses that honey was put to. The narrator contemplates the roles that flowers like this rose play in the lives of humans and sees the rose and themself as special and part of the whole universe. Buddha smiles, and the narrator feels they have understood him, and he knows it. In her author’s note, Chopra says this book is based on the story of Sujata and Gautama Buddha, but it bears little resemblance to that story, which takes place before Buddha’s enlightenment. As an invitation to mindfulness and feeling oneness with the universe, it is much more successful. Rawat’s illustrations are bright, attractive, and inviting. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not an introduction to Buddhism but may spark an interest in mindfulness or meditation. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7624-7876-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for.
Spinelli lists many things for which people are thankful.
The pictures tell a pleasing counterpoint to this deceptively simple rhyme. It begins “The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes. / The local reporter, for interesting news.” The pictures show a little girl playing waitress to her brother, who playacts the reporter. The news gets interesting when the girl trips over the (omnipresent) cat. As the poem continues, the Caucasian children and their parents embody all the different roles and occupations it mentions. The poet is thankful for rhyme and the artist, for light and color, although the girl dancer is not particularly pleased with her brother’s painterly rendition of her visual art. The cozy hotel for the traveler is a tent for the siblings in the backyard, and the grateful chef is their father in the kitchen. Even the pastor (the only character mentioned who is not a family member) is grateful, as he is presented with a posy from the girl, for “God’s loving word.” The line is squiggly and energetic, with pastel color and figures that float over white space or have whole rooms or gardens to roam in. Both children, grateful for morning stories, appear in a double-page spread surrounded by books and stuffed toys as their mother reads to them—an image that begs to be a poster.
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-310-00088-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Visually appealing but doesn’t capture the spirit of namaste.
What does it mean to say namaste?
This picture book attempts to explain this traditional, formal greeting used in South and Southeast Asia to welcome people and bid them farewell—in particular, as a way to show respect to elders. A child with dark hair, dark eyes, deep-brown skin, and a bindi on their forehead goes to a market with their caregiver and buys a potted plant to give their lonely, lighter-skinned neighbor. Vibrant, textured illustrations depict a blossoming friendship between the little one and the neighbor, while a series of statements describe what namaste means to the child. However, the disjointed text makes the concept difficult for young readers to grasp. Some statements describe namaste in its most literal sense (“Namaste is ‘I bow to you.’ " “Namaste is joining your palms together”), while others are more nebulous (“A yoga pose. A practice.” “Namaste calms your heart when things aren’t going right”). The lack of backmatter deprives readers of the cultural context and significance of this greeting as well as knowledge of the countries and cultures where it is used. Moreover, the book doesn’t convey the deep respect that this greeting communicates. The absence of culturally specific details and the framing of namaste as a concept that could apply to almost any situation ultimately obscure its meaning and use. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Visually appealing but doesn’t capture the spirit of namaste. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1783-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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