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Sarah Conover has written six books on world wisdom traditions and the spiritual education of families. Her interests lie in building bridges of understanding between people of differing world cultures and wisdom traditions. As a former high-school teacher, she strived to bring multicultural perspectives to her students by collaborating with other educators worldwide. She was the recipient of two U.S. State Department grants that brought U.S. teachers to the Middle East to initiate classroom collaborations between students in the two regions. Sarah lives in Spokane, Washington, where she teaches creative writing and Buddhist meditation. Valerie Wahl is a graduate of Washington State University where she studied Fine Art. She is the illustrator of Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents and Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents.
Many American children know the parable of the mustard seed told in the New Testament. Few, however, have been exposed to the equally compelling Buddhist story of the mustard seed. In this parable, the Buddha tells a woman who has lost her child to seek out mustard seeds from families that have not been exposed to death. In doing so, the woman learns the universality of grief. Thirty-one such stories have been masterfully adapted and translated by Conover to transmit the soft, lyrical voice of the originals. These include Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha in past incarnations, which are widely read and retold to Buddhist children throughout the world. Populated with sticky-haired dragons, verbose monkeys, and strange-looking monks, and illustrated in pleasant, sepia-tone pictures contributed by Valerie Wahl, Kindness is packed with excellent tales that will surprise and delight readers while introducing them to the diversity of religious traditions. John Green, Booklist
