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Where the Board Books Are

The Lotus Collection by Mark Schustrin & Illustrated by Sam Island


Thank you to Ava Bear Books for sending me the Lotus Board Book Collection! These three board books introduce children to stories of wisdom inspired by quotes from The Buddha. I don't think I have a photo of the sides of these books but the board book edges are actually green, orange, and purple. I don't think I've ever seen that before!


In The Grumpy Caterpillar, little ones are introduced to a distraught-looking caterpillar who thinks of himself as slow, ugly and unimportant. Unaware of the fact that he will soon be a marvelous butterfly, Caterpillar continues to mope. It isn't until he wakes up one morning as a beautiful butterfly that he realizes how he had a gift inside of him all along. A board book that teaches children to not only treat others as they would like to be treated, but a board book that highlights internal beauty and confidence.


In The Secret Treasure, children are shown illustrations of nature, wonders of the world, gold, diamonds, cash, and jewels. These however, are not the secret treasure that children are meant to find. To find the secret treasure, little ones don't need to look far. In fact, they'll find it on the last page of the board book. A mirror...and in that mirror is...a beautiful child. More precious than all the treasures in the world.


The last book in the series is The Sharing Bear. Inspired by the quote, "Give, even if you only have a little," children will see how Bear loves to eat watermelon. When he stops to eat his watermelon by a lake he encounters his friend Mr. Squirrel. Without hesitation, Bear offers some of his watermelon to Mr. Squirrel. Another friend soon comes by -- and just like Beer offered a piece to Mr. Squirrel -- Bear also offers some to Moose. He even offers the last piece to Moose. When asked by his friend, Ms. Bluebird why he gave away the last piece, Bear replies, "The feeling in my heart when I share with my friends is better than any melon can taste!"

Written in rhyme, these three board books impart life lessons which little ones and their families can remember over and over again after ever reading.


Thank you again to Ava Bear Books for sharing these with me!


Enjoy!


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