Buddhist Tales

Jo-Anne Naslund is an education librarian at the University of British
Columbia Library.

This collection of 13 tales intended to “illustrate various aspects of
Buddhist thought” entertains but also enlightens with its powerful
ideas and images. The stories are taken from several Asian
cultures—China, Tibet, Thailand, India, and Japan—and elegantly
illustrated with border designs and images that reflect the particular
culture (the Japanese border, for example, features origami cranes,
stylized fans, and urns). The story “Living Kuan Yin” teaches that
through generosity and kindness it may be possible to achieve a deeper
level of compassion, while “The Wisdom of Crows” suggests that those
to be feared the most are the unskilful, who unwittingly bring about
destruction and death. A welcome addition to school, home, and public
library collections. Highly recommended.