Up and Down (Zen Tails Series) Book

Zen Tails: Up and Down is the story of a very bored monkey with absolutely, positively nothing to do. Shri Shelley, a sagely tortoise, thinks she knows what to teach the monkey so that he can conquer boredom no matter where he is. Will the monkey take her advice? Teaching the moral that the mind is a horrible master but a great servant, this Zen Tail features beautiful, creative artwork on sturdily bound high-quality paper that can stand up to little hands.

Children's Literature

This story, one of the "Zen Tails" series, is a classic philosophic story adapted for children. The main character, Monkey, is bored and claims that there is nothing to do. He asks his friend Shelly if she would find him something to do. She has him do a few things and then tells him to run up and down a ladder. After a few hours of running up and down the ladder, Monkey get tired and realizes that he has wasted his time and now wishes that he had done some fun things instead. So he runs off planning all of the exciting things he can do tomorrow. This is followed by two pages that tell the original Zen tale and the moral of the story. The amusing characters are meticulously illustrated in vivid colors. Young children should enjoy this appealing book while learning some positive philosophy. Reviewer: Vicki Foote