Buddhist Books for Children 3-8 Years Old
|Each Breath a Smile by Sister Susan|
Introduces very young children to mindfulness and an awareness of nature.
|Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee Maclean|
Kids in a fanciful pig family use meditation to deal with their daily stresses.
|Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry Lee Maclean|
A young boy/cow has a very bad day, and his grandfather teaches him a
meditation technique to help him deal with his anger.
|Zen Ties by Jon Muth|
Lovely story about children learning compassion, featuring a giant Panda.
|Zen Ghosts by Jon Muth|
Buddhism and Halloween? Sure! In this 3rd children's book featuring Stillwater
the panda, the theme of 'what is real?' is explored.
|Buddha at Bedtime by Dharmachari Nagaraja|
Focused on teaching universal values such as kindness, sharing and
forgiveness through fable like stories.
|Jataka Tale Series by Dharma Publishing|
The Jataka Tales are a set of folk stories from India featuring animals and magical
creatures, that are often used in Buddhist cultures to relay ethical teachings.
Buddhist Books for Children 9-12 Years Old
|I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told by Jeanne Lee|
Versions of several Jataka Tales - fables about the Buddha's past lives.
|Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and|
Parents by Sarah Conover
More Buddhist fables, from many lineages.
|Prince Siddhartha: The Story of Buddha by Jonathan Landaw|
The Buddha's life story.
|A Pebble For Your Pocket by Thich Nhat Hanh|
Lovely first person stories from Thich Nhat Hanh on mindfulness
Buddhist Books for Teens
|Wide Awake: Buddhism for the New Generation|
by Diana Winston
Great introduction to Buddhism, with anecdotes targeted to teens.
|The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling|
Life's Questions by Daisaku Ikeda
Q&A format, with real questions posed by teens.
|Siddhartha by Herman Hesse|
Classic novel based on (but not exactly) the Buddha's life.