Zen Shorts

Zen Shorts,

by Jon J. Muth, is a philosophical picture book that leaves the reader both thoughtful and peaceful. Muth presents three classic Zen stories: one about the power of giving, another about the true essence of fortune and misfortune, and a third about forgiveness. These stories are presented in a gentle frame of a relationship between a wise, giant panda and the three siblings who are his neighbors. The calm panda, named Stillwater, responds to each child’s need with a story to suit them. The gentle relationship between the Panda and the children is painted in soft watercolors, and the embedded Zen lessons are black ink strokes against solid pale colors. It is a beautiful book to simply look at. All the Zen stories are familiar classics, but the telling here is clear and engaging and accessible to even young children. My high school students have debated the lessons of the Zen stories and then chuckled at the image of a small boy resting atop the belly of the enormous panda. I leave it on my desk, and students pick it up to show their friends. My own young children ask to see it and to hear it again and again.
It is beautiful introduction to the concept of Zen, but is a lesson in the broader concepts of what it means to live without assumptions, and with freedom.

By Lauren, Secondary School Teacher and Library Manager