Buddhist Children's Books

Book Review: Zen Shorts by Jon Muth

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:37:08 +0000

Thanks for reading the Buddhist Childrens Books newsletter. We’re pleased to announce a new series of video reviews in which we’ll share some of our favorite books with you. If you have a book that you’d like to review, send us an email and we’ll do our best to showcase your book!

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How to Teach Children about Buddhism and Christianity

admin — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:10:49 +0000

My wife and I have slightly different religious beliefs because of our backgrounds, and as a result we faced several issues trying to decide how to teach our children about religion. Our simple solution was to combine our beliefs and let our children decide what worked best for them. The hard part was determining how to go about doing this in a way that would not confuse our children. We ended up opting for a mix of discussion and reading that not only gave our children perspective, but helped them to learn on their own.

The first thing we did was to ask them what questions they were thinking about so that we could talk about how to answer them. It surprised us to hear that they had a lot of questions about death, God, and the afterlife (they were only 4 and 6 at the time). Once we had a good idea of what they were concerned with, we sat down while they were asleep and talked about ways we could objectively answer their questions.

Once we had some answers for them, we started longer discussions about more complex issues and told our children that we didn’t know the answers for certain and that the best we could do was stay as open minded as possible. We taught them that sometimes when you learn more, it can be more difficult to know the truth because you already have your mind made up. We wanted to impart upon them a lesson of wisdom and understanding that would help them weigh and balance the answers they would find on their own.

Lastly, we bought a bunch of books with different perspectives and read them together. We talked about where they were different and why that might be. We never said one was wrong or right, but simply asked them what they thought. Children are so innocent in their wisdom that I even learned quite a few lessons in the process. We encouraged them to think heavily about their thoughts, meditate on them, and ask us questions at any time. Although we didn’t talk about church, we did give them the option if they wanted that.

In the end, our children began to start thinking about spirituality, rather than trying to immediately answer all of their questions. Contemplative thinking is important and we wanted to make sure they made their own assumptions rather than just believe what their parents tell them. Sure, we sometimes worry we aren’t specific enough, but then we realize that each child walks their own path for the truth and it is up to them to find it along the way.

Teaching Children about Spirituality

admin — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:08:55 +0000

Teaching children about religion and spirituality can be a difficult task for many reasons. There are plenty of Christian children’s books on the market, but finding anything else is very difficult. Also, many subjects are often difficult or confusing for children to understand. I admit it, I am no teacher and I faced this issue when I wanted to share my Zen Buddhist beliefs with my children in a manner that opened their minds rather than closed them. In the end, I was able to find some fantastic resources that not only helped my children understand things like birth and death, but also taught them great lessons on compassion, empathy, and spirituality.
The beginning of my problem originated when my children started asking me tough questions about life, death, and suffering. I had answers prepared, but honestly when I went to use them they just didn’t sound right. There were so many lessons and ideas that I’d been taught and wanted to share with my children, but I just couldn’t seem to find the right way to do it. Then I realized that maybe I could find some Buddhist children’s books that might slowly introduce these thoughts to them without getting overcomplicated.
The first route I tried was the local bookstore, which didn’t pan out. I went home and started using Google to find Buddhist children’s books, but really didn’t find anything specifically tailored for children. Eventually, I used Amazon and after some hard searching found exactly what I needed.
There are some fantastic books, if you search hard enough, that teach kids about Buddhist topics such as meditation, compassion, love, respect, and even death/rebirth. I had no idea that there were such simple ways to share these invaluable lessons with children. I wasn’t raised as a Buddhist, so everything I learned about it was as an adult. I had no idea how to approach a child. These books turned out to be a lifesaver.
I realized at that point that there are probably thousands of parents out there facing a similar problem and I wondered if there would be any way to compile a list online for parents to find and use. Sure enough, it is possible and if it weren’t for me facing this problem I never would have found the solution. I hope you find what you are looking for as well.