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| Prince Siddhartha This is a lovely retelling of the life story of the Buddha. It is perfectly appropriate for children yet does not gloss over any details some people may find a little squeamish for kids (like his prolonged starvation-ascetic period, the depiction of a funeral procession, etc). To this day my children will still refer to the story about Siddhartha's protection of the swan shot by Devadatta, and I doubt even my 12-year old would object to listening to the book one more time (as long as her younger brother was the one "officially" being read to). I found myself at times having a hard time reading the book to my children as my voice started to crack with emotion during some of the most moving parts. It really helped to spark some good conversations with my children about the dhamma and the path. An easy 10/10 on the "exquisiteness" scale. Details |
| I Once Was A Monkey This is a series of 5 retold Jataka tales skillfully linked together by a story of five animals seeking shelter (refuge!) from a storm in a dark cave. They find that it is an abandoned temple, and a Buddha statue in the corner helps ease their difficult and possibly dangerous situation by retelling the Jataka tales. Incredibly tastefully illustrated and elegantly written (possibly a bit too elegantly for the very young), this is truly a delightful book. I had to simplify some of the more ornate language back when my son was a pre-schooler, but it wasn't hard to do at all "on the fly." Details |
| The Three Questions Readers of Ajahn Brahm's book "Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung" (AKA everywhere but in the USA as "Open The Door of Your Heart") will recognize this story, originally told by Tolstoy. "When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do?" This is good one to sneak into the homes of your non-Buddhist friends, as well, since there's no overt Buddhist content. Details |
| Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens Bought this one for my daughter, who is 12, and put it in her room but warned her she wasn't old enough to read it yet, not being a teen. I'm quite sure it's been read by now! Details |
| Dharma Punx For older teens and young adults, probably ages 18-25, I would highly recommend "Dharma Punx" by Noah Levine. This is the story of of how the author went from being a drug and alcohol addicted punk rock rage machine with no direction in life despite having a famous meditation teacher for a father, to someone hesitantly taking the first steps (in jail after an arrest) as a last resort before literally giving up on life all together. He details his spiritual quest, rocky and uneven at first, but then increasingly propelled by a slow unstoppable force, eventually leading to a recovery program and several 3-month insight meditation retreats. He later was encouraged by people such as Ajahn Amaro and Jack Kornfield to finish college, go to grad school and finally start a rigorous 5-year training program to become a meditation teacher at Spirit Rock in California. He still leads an active meditation group in Los Angeles (againsthestream.org). Not for those afraid of tatoos and at times sordid descriptions of the pointlessness of teenage sex and drug use. Details |
| Buddha in Your Backpack: "Everyday Buddhism for Teens" is a good, no-nonsense book for teenagers which doesn't talk down to them. In fact I would say it is a fine book for anyone from 11-99. Details |
| Moody Cow Meditates I admit I haven't read or purchased this one. My kids are a bit too old for it, but it really looks like a winner for the age 3-7 set. Details |
Anyway, I invite anyone with kids, to recommend their own "Kids Dhamma Library" in the forum...
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