Zen Shorts (Zen #1)

by Jon J Muth (Author) Jon J Muth (Illustrator)

Zen Shorts (Zen #1)
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
Series: Zen
When a giant panda moves into Michael, Addy, and Karl's neighborhood, he tells them the most amazing Zen stories that abound with enlightenment and love. John J Muth contributes vibrant watercolors and elegant ink drawings for this Caldecott Honor Book.
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Starred Review
Every word and image comes to make as perfect a picture book as can be.

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
An accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation.

School Library Journal

Beautifully illustrated in two distinct styles, this book introduces readers to a Zen approach to the world, wrapped in a story about three siblings and their new neighbor, a panda....Appealing enough for a group read-aloud, but also begging to be shared and discussed by caregiver and child, Zen Shorts is a notable achievement.

Publishers Weekly

Muth, who has retold traditional stories such as "Stone Soup" and Tolstoy's "The Three Questions", and played up their spiritual elements with his elegant watercolors, here introduces three Zen stories from Japan. He frames the trio of tales within the context of a suburban household. Three siblings befriend a giant panda when his red umbrella blows into their yard. Speaking "with a slight panda accent," he introduces himself as Stillwater, and charms Addy and Michael -though Karl, the youngest, is still "shy around bears he [doesn't] know." Each day one of the children goes to visit Stillwater, revealing something of him- or herself. The panda chooses an appropriate Zen fable for each child, illustrated with rough-edged, Chinese-style brush-and-ink paintings on duotone pages, to play up the story-within-a-story structure. In the first, Stillwater tells Addy about his Uncle Ry, who disarms a robber by treating him like a guest (older readers will pick up from the closing author's note that "Uncle Ry" is shorthand for the Zen hermit Ryokan Taigu). In the next, a wise farmer demonstrates that good luck can quickly turn to bad luck and back again (a tale Ed Young also retold in "The Lost Horse"). In the last, a monk learns how to stop brooding and live in the present. Readers will fall easily into the rhythm of visits to Stillwater and his storytelling sessions, and many more will fall in love with the panda, whose shape and size offer the children many opportunities for cuddling. Ages 4-up. (Mar.)

Copyright 2005 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission

Review quotes






Jon J Muth
Jon J Muth is beloved all over the world for his seven books featuring Stillwater the Panda, whose love and balanced approach to life always serve to make the world a better place for his young friends. Muth's many enchanting picture books include his Caldecott Honor Book Zen Shorts, Addy's Cup of Sugar, Stone Soup, and The Three Questions, which the New York Times Book Review called quietly life-changing. His books have been translated into more than 23 languages and are cherished by readers of all ages. Muth draws inspiration from his life-long interest in Asian Studies, including tai chi chuan, sumi ink drawing, and chado, the way of tea. Muth is also renowned in the world of graphic novels. He won an Eisner Award for his paintings in the graphic novel, The Mystery Play by Grant Morrison. He's partnered with Neil Gaiman on The Sandman: The Wake, Walter and Louise Simonson, and Kent Williams on Havoc & Wolverine: Meltdown, J. M. DeMatteis on Moonshadow and Silver Surfer, and with Stanislaw Lem on The Seventh Voyage which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Adaptation in Another Medium. He lives in New York State with his wife and their four children.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780439339117
Lexile Measure
540
Guided Reading Level
N
Publisher
Scholastic Press
Publication date
March 01, 2005
Series
Zen
BISAC categories
JUV002030 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Bears
Library of Congress categories
Giant panda
Pandas
Brothers and sisters
Storytelling
Grand Canyon Reader Award
Nominee 2007 - 2007
Caldecott Medal
Honor Book 2006 - 2006
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award
Nominee 2007 - 2007
Book Sense Book of the Year Award
Winner 2006 - 2006
Black-Eyed Susan Award
Nominee 2006 - 2007
Parents Choice Award (Spring) (1998-2007)
Winner 2005 - 2005
Colorado Children's Book Award
Nominee 2007 - 2007
Red Clover Award
Nominee 2007 - 2007
New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Award
Winner 2005 - 2005
Rhode Island Children's Book Awards
Nominee 2007 - 2007
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2006 - 2006

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