AustLit logo

AustLit

y separately published work icon Zen Tails series - author   picture book   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... 2004 Zen Tails
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Zen Tails are classical philosophical tales adapted and beautifully illustrated for children. Each book contains a moral as well as the original Zen Tale' (source: publisher's website).

Includes

y separately published work icon No Presents Please Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Epping : New Frontier , 2004 Z1155905 2004 single work picture book children's 'Grizzel Bear is angry. He stomps on flowers, he grumbles and he complains. He meets Guru Walter Wombat, who is full of love and compassion. Walter refuses to accept Grizzel's anger and eventually the anger dissolves. This book shows how anger does not have to be accepted. What remains is peace and happiness' (Source: publisher's website).
y separately published work icon Up and Down Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Epping : New Frontier , 2004 Z1155909 2004 single work picture book children's 'Monkey is bored. There is absolutely, positively nothing to do. Shre Shelly the tortoise, through her sagely advice, helps monkey discover that life is full and complete. This book shows how the mind is an horrendous master, but a wonderful servant' (Source: publisher website).
y separately published work icon Are You Sure? Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Allambie Heights : New Frontier , 2006 Z1841354 2005 single work picture book children's 'Gilbert B. Beaver thinks that winning the race and receiving his prize is good. He believes that falling out of a tree and into the river is bad. The ever-present Shri Shelly suggests that you never can be certain about these things. Preconception and expectation are shown to be misleading in this fun, light-hearted adventure' (Source: publisher website).
y separately published work icon The Know it All Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Allambie Heights : New Frontier , 2009 Z1841368 2005 single work picture book children's 'The lazy cat "Furball" believes she knows everything. When the dam bursts and she is drenched, Furball realises that being a "know it all" ends in disaster. Based on the famous story of the university professor and the Zen master, children will discover that being a "know it all", simply means you are all "washed up" (Source: publisher's website).
y separately published work icon Love is Helping Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Frenchs Forest : New Frontier , 2008 Z1841468 2008 single work picture book children's 'Bruno and Pierre help Gilbert build the dam. Fur Ball is lazy and she doesn't help. Only when Fur Ball decides to help does she experience love. In Zen Tails' first book of Love, the sub title is Love is Helping. Helping is an activity that allows love to arise. Enacting love allows it to grow and become stronger. The Zen Tail's First Book of Love only has a few simple words on a page, but it is easy for a parent when reading to a young child to expand on the joys of helping and loving' (Source: publisher's website).
y separately published work icon Happiness is Sharing Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Frenchs Forest : New Frontier , 2008 Z1841478 2008 single work picture book children's 'The Zen Tails First Book of Happiness is subtitled Happiness is Sharing. It shows the student characters sharing with each other and they are happy. Grizzel Bear is not sharing and he is alone and he is not happy. In the end he does decide to share and he then experiences happiness. Parents can use this story and relate it to their child's own experiences of sharing or not sharing. Inevitably a child who is not sharing [is] not happy' (Source: publisher's website).
y separately published work icon Wisdom is Listening Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Frenchs Forest : New Frontier , 2008 Z1841481 2008 single work picture book children's 'Pierre Potamus listens to the birds and Bruno Beagle listens to the wind as he [flies] his kite. Monkey doesn't listen and he is bored - Monkey becomes all tied up, because he doesn't listen. It is so familiar. Wisdom is not book learning or worldly knowledge- it is as the Quakers call it "The still silent voice within". It is that voice that speaks to us and says "No don't do that"' (Source: publisher's website).
y separately published work icon Bruno Dreams of Ice Cream Peter Whitfield , Nancy Bevington (illustrator), Frenchs Forest : New Frontier , 2011 8725594 2011 single work picture book children's

'Everyone has ice cream except Bruno, and he can't get his mind off the stuff. He tries and tries to get some ice cream, but no one wants to give him any. What to do?

'A fun story that teaches sharing and includes vivid, imaginative illustrations, Bruno Dreams of Ice Cream, the debut title in the Zen Tails series of beautifully illustrated philosophical tales adapted for children, shows how focused attention and caring for others brings freedom, happiness, and maybe even ice cream.'

Source : publisher's blurb

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2004
    • Frenchs Forest, Killarney Heights - Frenchs Forest area, Sydney Northeastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: New Frontier , 2008-2011 .
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

[Review] Zen Tails Helen Martin , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of The Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 53 no. 3 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of Zen Tails 2004 series - author picture book
[Review] Zen Tails Helen Martin , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of The Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 53 no. 3 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of Zen Tails 2004 series - author picture book
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (1)
Last amended 17 Sep 2021 11:45:37
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X