Pocket Bios: Buddha

Pocket Bios

by Al Berenger

A colorfully illustrated, pocket-size picture book biography of the Buddha.Gautama Buddha lived and taught in ancient India between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C.E. It is said that he was a prince before he renounced his former life in order to search for the cycle of rebirth and an end to suffering. He founded the religion of Buddhism, which has hundreds of millions of followers to this day and is the world's fourth largest religion. Pocket Bios are full of personality, introducing readers to fascinating figures from history with simple storytelling and cheerful illustrations. Titles include men and women from history, exploration, the sciences, the arts, the ancient world, and more.

Genres: Biography

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 19, 2019

Reviews

[Barbara]

I'm quite fond of these Pocket Bios since they are exactly what they seem to be. Small in size, they provide introductions to famous individuals from around the world. This one focuses on the Buddha, describing his early years and his putting aside his wealth for a more ascetic path. As he traveled, he encountered many individuals and eventually reached what he called enlightenment, paving the way for what would later be known as Buddhism. The book contains a timeline of important events in his life as well as a map with six important places, thumbnail sketches of four important individuals and Did You Know? questions to prompt further discussion. This book, like all the others, would be ideal for young readers who want to know about men and women who made various contributions to the world. I appreciate that the series doesn't focus only on politicians or elected officials.

[Deborah]

A sample of Buddha’s life. Born over 2500 years ago, Prince Siddhartha grew up to marry and have a child before embarking on a journey to find true happiness and evolving into the awakened one. As Buddha, he preached for people to become wiser and better and traveled with his disciples for 45 years until he died at 80. Interestingly, he was not a vegetarian.

[Amanda]

Before the statues, the fame, and the worldwide religion, the Buddha was just a boy named Siddhartha. A lot of the Buddha’s story is a mixture of myth and history, but he was believed to have been born a prince in Nepal more than two thousand years ago. One day he was exploring and met religious men. He decided leave his family and follow the man in search of truth. On a journey of his own, he fasted for seven days and seven nights. After this, he found peace in the universe, and he became the Buddha. He then began to teach people, including his family, the things he had learned. A new religion, Buddhism, was formed, which continues to inspire people around the world today.

This easy-to-understand biography does a great job of summarizing what is known about the Buddha. It covers the main points in his life, but doesn’t go into Buddhist theology. This book has more words than the typical picture book, with a few short paragraphs on every other page, but the text is around a first- or second-grade reading level. Younger readers may also enjoy this book being read aloud to them. The cute illustrations accurately depict what is going on in the story and the words are formatted clearly with headings on each page of text. At the end of the book, the reader will find a timeline of Buddha’s life, along with a map of significant places, drawings, descriptions of significant people, and quick “did you know” facts.

++Review originally published on Children's Book and Media Review++
http://byucbmr.com/reviews/pocket-bio...

[Dr Priyanka H]

As I have done vipasana course twice I was very keen to read this little beautiful book based on lord Gautam Buddha who was a Kshatriya by birth and was a very serene and peaceful person !! He was known for his compassion humility and the need to free all human beings from their suffering by following the law of karma and pure intention which also happens to be the reason in criminal psychology which is wholly based on intention !!