Zen Ties (A Stillwater and Friends Book)

This hardcover picture book took my breath away. Not since last summer's  Walt Disney's Cinderella  has a book so impressed me with its marriage of visuals and story.The story is pretty simple. Huge panda Stillwater picks up his visiting nephew Koo -- who only speaks in haiku -- at the train station. They are joined by Stillwater's friends Addy, Michael and Karl. The pandas play with the kids, and Michael tells Stillwater his concerns about an upcoming Spelling Bee. Stillwater then takes them to Miss Whitaker's house, an elderly woman who lives on the kids' street. None of the three children can believe Stillwater would be friends with such a cranky, unpleasant person. Stillwater helps the siblings get to know Miss Whitaker, and they realize she is sad and bitter because she is alone, scared and not well. In the end the kids and the old lady learn to appreciate and help each other.There is such depth here. Consider the wordplay. When Stillwater picks up his nephew, he says "Hi, Koo!" And then, of course, Koo only speaks in the 17-syllable haiku poetry form. The lovely and realistic watercolor renditions of people and pandas make the whole story seem dreamlike. Stillwater sometimes seems normal panda sized, sometimes as big as a house. The wordless -- and haunting -- image of Miss Whitaker, late at night, looking at a painting Karl and Koo made for her is worth the price of the book in itself.

I just read this to my second graders yesterday as part of our poetry unit. The children loved the story and the illustrations are beautiful. And after we learned about Haiku, we all enjoyed the play on words with Koo's name and the fact that he speaks in Haiku.I actually love the illustrations more than the story but the book was a good fit for teaching about Haiku (although to be honest, most of the poems in the book aren't strict haiku because the syllable count is close, but not exact. The author does address that on the back page, and it let us talk about artistic license, so that was fine, but if you're wanting a strict 5-7-5 syllable count, there might only be one or two that are exact.

My kids and I are big fans of Jon Muth. We have several of his books and are very fond of his stories and the artwork found within. You can't help but fall in love with a big panda that teaches kids about the lessons of Zen Buddhism. Don't worry this isn't a religious book but more a book about being a good person and helping others. You will find the story to be insightful, humorous, and full of life and joy. I can read these books over and over again without getting bored.

Very sweet book. Got this to read to my 18 month old and thought it might be too may words on each page for him but it caught his attention right away and he has sat and let me read the whole thing to him multiple times now. Lovely story and great illustrations!

This book has such beautiful art and colors in it; it is a wonderful addition to any book collection. The story is quite cute and has a wonderful message for children.I have an 11 month old and though she can not understand the story yet, it is fun to read the story, talk about the colors and count things on the pages with her.The only "con" is that these books tend to be sort of costly. You can find good deals on them though and they are sure worth it.

I loved reading the first book, "Zen Shorts" about the gentle but giant Buddhist Panda Bear and his human children friends to my niece, so I bought the second one for her. It creates such a feeling of calm and ease, with clever word play and fun drawings. As with the first book, I wish I'd had it when I was a child. It's good to see that the author has published many books. I highly recommend exploring his work.

Beautiful watercolor illustrations by Jon j Muth, this is part of a series of books involving a giant panda Stillwater. I absolutely love them. The books are lovely and calming— this one is my favorite to give as a gift!

One of the finest childerns books ever.....it is for adults too

Excellent children's book. Important theme/message - for all people not only kids - told in format that kids can understand and absorb.

My husband really enjoys this, as well as my children!

it was so highly rated by the parents and the child I bought it for, I will get more of his books

Pues eso, me encantó Zen Shorts y este Zen Ties no es que sea un mal cuento, pero no tiene la magia de su predecesor.

Always a follower of Zen...loved by kids..we must bring our kids to these types of books with great stories...