Buddhist Children's Books?

[Victor]

Hello all! I am primarily stating my intention to begin creating a book or two for children related to Zen and Buddhism. I am setting this here as a reminder for myself to start the project and keep working!

Are there any other children's related to this that you would recommend looking into?

[Tai Do]

Hello all! I am primarily stating my intention to begin creating a book or two for children related to Zen and Buddhism. I am setting this here as a reminder for myself to start the project and keep working!

Are there any other children's related to this that you would recommend looking into?

I look forward to it. Great project.
Gassho,
Mateus
Sat today

[Victor]

Thanks so much!

Gassho,
Victor

[Kokuu]

Hi Victor!

That is a fabulous idea! Let us know how you progress.

My favourite series of children's Buddhist/Zen books are by Jon Muth and centre around the character of Stillwater the panda: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140181.Zen_Shorts

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Victor]

Hi Victor!

That is a fabulous idea! Let us know how you progress.

My favourite series of children's Buddhist/Zen books are by Jon Muth and centre around the character of Stillwater the panda: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140181.Zen_Shorts

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

Thank you so much! I may run some of my progress by you all here as I get to work on it! And thank you for the suggestion!

Gassho,
Victor

[Jundo]

Wonderful idea Victor!

By the way, here is a Sangha project that I remain hopeful for. In all these years, I have never gotten it to take off! I am still hoping. It needs a leader. Any volunteers?

BUDDHIST FAMILY HOLIDAYS

The "BUDDHIST FAMILY HOLIDAYS PROJECT" aims to make Buddhist holidays more "kid friendly" while preserving the traditional messages, teachings, values and customs of the original. It is sometimes said that Buddhist groups in the West could do a bit more to be welcoming of children, and we might take some simple steps in our Sangha groups and at home to communicate basic teachings and practices to younger kids and teens (something which both Buddhist groups in the East and other religious groups in the West are quite attentive to). In both Asian Buddhism and for other religions in the West, "religious holidays" can be a time for families to unite, to bond through customs and practices, and to bring children into the spirit of the season through the celebration. Holidays can be an important time to expose children to Buddhist teachings and values in ways that leave a lasting, positive impression for the future.

https://www.sites.google.com/site/buddhistfamilyholidays/home

Here are a couple of lists of popular titles by the way. Many of them are not particularly "Zen," and are more general Buddhism or other flavors of Buddhism, but I don't think it matters so much when it comes to kids books.

https://www.criticalcactus.com/best-books-on-buddhism-for-children/

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=buddhist+childrens+books&i=stripbooks&crid=2OFWGNFK5G8TX&sprefix=buddhist+childrens%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C303&ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_18

I also notice that "my new publisher" Wisdom has a few nice sounding titles, so let me link to those ...

https://www.wisdompubs.org/books/buddhist-books-for-children

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Victor]

Thanks so much, Jundo! I will definitely look into those! I'd love to help out with your project, but unfortunately I am part of a very Christian family and am not openly Buddhist as of yet. But perhaps in the future!

I will definitely look into those titles you have provided for me!

Gassho,
Victor

[newby_x86]

That is just wonderful, Victor. Wishing you the very best with this!

Anant
SaT

[Victor]

That is just wonderful, Victor. Wishing you the very best with this!

Anant
SaT

Thank you so much!

Gassho

[Gero]

Hello Victor,

great idea!
As I do not have any children of my own, I can not really judge if these comics are made in a way interesting to children, but they seem pretty accessible to me:

https://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/library/comics/index.html

Gassho
Gero who sat today

[Jundo]

Hello Victor,

great idea!
As I do not have any children of my own, I can not really judge if these comics are made in a way interesting to children, but they seem pretty accessible to me:

https://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/library/comics/index.html

Gassho
Gero who sat today

I think that they may be more for adults.

Also, expect rather "romantic" retellings and idealized figures as is typical of a religious biography. Master Dogen's death scene ...



Maybe the style is a bit hard for kids too. This is the scene where Dogen's Teacher, Master Rujing, castigates a monk for sleeping during Zazen ...



Maybe the translation could be nicer too. (All that the original says in Japanese is, "Zazen is to sit with body and mind as one.")

Gassho, J

STLah

[Heiso]

This is a great idea, Victor - and thank you everyone else for your book suggestions. I have a two, nearly three year old and have been thinking about introducing some Buddhist stories to our reading. We already do yoga together, she occasionally sits on my lap quietly and has a great gassho.

Jundo - I could possibly look at the family project in the near future once I've been here a bit longer.

Gassho,

Neil

STLah