Friday, February 15, 2008
Stillwater runs deep
I read this book to one of T2CGITW last night. It's so good I can't begin to praise it adequately. Zen Shorts by Jon Muth. The story is terrific and so are the watercolor illustrations. The little girl I was reading to was entrance by some of the illustrations herself, not something that often happens with *little* children, but they are beautiful, frameable.I discovered Jan Muth linking from some other book, basically browsing online at Barnes & Noble - something I haven't done particularly successfully very often because I'm more familiar browsing in a physical store. Anyway, I'm a convert now because this is an amazing experience. On the surface, it's a story about a big panda named Stillwater and the three children who meet him because he's sitting in their backyard under a red umbrella. They visit him at his house, and play with him, and he tells them three stories. The essence of the book is to inculcate in one's mind a quietness that welcomes thoughts and ideas. The almost-4-year-old I was reading with last night liked the book so much that after we read it and played with cut-outs for a while, she asked me to read it again. And then she asked her father to read it to her at bedtime. Three times in a couple of hours. What greater compliment is there?
Labels: books, children, reading, reflections, t2cgitw, writing
