Product Description

Summer has arrived -- and so has Koo, Stillwater's haiku-speaking young nephew. And when Stillwater encourages Koo, and his friends Addy, Michael, and Karl to help a grouchy old neighbor in need, their efforts are rewarded in unexpected ways.

Zen Ties is a disarming story of compassion and friendship that reaffirms the importance of our ties to one another.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7394 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780439634250
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Stillwater, the giant panda who taught Zen parables to siblings Karl, Addy and Michael in Zen Shorts, continues to combine his slow-moving grace with genuine spiritual tranquility. This time, Michael faces a daunting spelling bee, and Stillwater, first seen wearing a necktie, introduces the three to Miss Whitaker, an elderly neighbor whose crabby outbursts have frightened them. Stillwater's inward eye sees through her anger to her fear and loneliness. She turns out to be a marvelous spelling coach (Just like plants, words have roots, she tells Michael. Roots of words can teach you to spell), and when Michael wins a red ribbon, the pictures show the whole group sharing his victory with their own red ribbons—the Zen ties of the title. (Zentai is Japanese for the whole or the entire, as in all of us together.) A subplot featuring Koo, Stillwater's nephew, drifts a bit; he's a cute little panda who punctuates the action with Zen-influenced haiku (and allows Muth another pun: Hi, Koo!). Muth's brush is as sure as ever; Stillwater's big, blunt paws and hunched-over listening posture are irresistible, and Miss Whitaker's delicate face and snow-white hair beautifully counterpoint the vignettes of youthful play. From a religious tradition that makes no theological demands and that will be unfamiliar to most readers, Stillwater offers a model of pure saintliness, and children will instantly respond to him. All ages. (Feb.)
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About the Author
Jon J Muth was born and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He drew and drew and drew and drew, and painted. His mother was an art teacher and she took him to museums all over the US. He had his first one-man exhibit of paintings and drawings at the invitation of Wilmington College when he was eighteen.He studied stone sculpture in Japan; paintings, prints and drawings in Austria, Germany and England and he was an English major at SUNY, New Paltz. But most of his education as an artist came from an informal apprenticeship with two fine artists. For the past fifteen years Muth has concentrated his published work in the area of comic books. His comic books have been published by DC/Vertigo, Eclipse Books, NBM, Donald M. Grant Publishers, Inc. and in Japan, Kodansha.For BBC educational television, in 1991, Muth created a short graphic story for which he also produced the music and narrated. In comics he has won the Eisner Award for excellence in painting. In 1994 he was commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to paint a portrait of music director, Jesus Lopez-Cobos. Two books about his paintings, Vanitas : Paintings, Drawings and Ideas, 1991, and Koan, 2000, have been published.

Customer Reviews

Breathtaking
This hardcover picture book took my breath away. Not since last summer's Walt Disney's Cinderella has a book so impressed me with its marriage of visuals and story.

The story is pretty simple. Huge panda Stillwater picks up his visiting nephew Koo -- who only speaks in haiku -- at the train station. They are joined by Stillwater's friends Addy, Michael and Karl. The pandas play with the kids, and Michael tells Stillwater his concerns about an upcoming Spelling Bee. Stillwater then takes them to Miss Whitaker's house, an elderly woman who lives on the kids' street. None of the three children can believe Stillwater would be friends with such a cranky, unpleasant person. Stillwater helps the siblings get to know Miss Whitaker, and they realize she is sad and bitter because she is alone, scared and not well. In the end the kids and the old lady learn to appreciate and help each other.

There is such depth here. Consider the wordplay. When Stillwater picks up his nephew, he says "Hi, Koo!" And then, of course, Koo only speaks in the 17-syllable haiku poetry form. The lovely and realistic watercolor renditions of people and pandas make the whole story seem dreamlike. Stillwater sometimes seems normal panda sized, sometimes as big as a house. The wordless -- and haunting -- image of Miss Whitaker, late at night, looking at a painting Karl and Koo made for her is worth the price of the book in itself.

Wonderful!
Zen Ties is soothing / like breathing in yoga class / forgetting worries

Animate readers / with soft, light watercolors / and careful phrases

Rewards are greatest / when we help one another / teaches Stillwater

Be kind to planet / remember not to destroy / learns our young wee Koo

Happier today / for reading this picture book / Many thanks to Muth

Fabulous Zen!
I learn so much about life from this fabulous author!
He lovingly distills the wisdom of ancient Zen teachings into the most touching and practical stories about the things we all come up against in life and frequently do not, despite our best intentions, know how to handle.

I discovered his books while visiting my brother's family. My sister-in-law bought me 'Zen Shorts', and told me that while Muth writes for children, SHE had learned more about HER life from that one book than most adult books she had read.
I bought 'Zen Ties' immediately when it came out because it is one of those books that can just shift your reality enough that it allows you to see life from a completely different angle. It is a short, lovely read and re-read when you, an adult, need a shift in perspective.
I recommend his books very highly! And, if you enjoy his books as much as I do, I also highly recommend a book called Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment by Ariel and Shya Kane. It is easy to read and also based on stories of things that confront all of us in our everyday lives and offers, as Muth does in 'Zen Ties', a completely different angle on how to see life.