Stillwater, the giant penda from Zen Shorts, is back, but this time he has a ghost story to tell. A note from the author explains that Stillwater's story was originally written down by a Buddhist monk. The story features a koan, which is a question you have to answer for yourself and appeals to people's intuitive nature, rather than intellectual. The pencil-sketched and water color pictures are artistically simple and beautiful. A large two-page spread depicts a fun and artful scene of several children dressed up for Halloween, trick-or-treating with their parents under a bright full moon. Those two pages contain no words, so your little one's imagination can take over. The final pages contain another two-page spread, depicting the four main characters, with their backs to the readers, sitting cross legged and looking out over the town at night. The full moon is the focus of the scene, and right next to it is what looks like another full moon at first, but at closer glance is really a round bamboo lamp. The picture represents the same duality covered in the story.
Although the main story of the book is quite thought-provoking, there are many light-hearted and fun qualities your child will enjoy as well. For instance, Stillwater and his friends, Addy, Karl, and Michael, plan what to be for Halloween. Karl can't decide between being an Owl or a Pirate, so Stillwater cleverly suggests he be an Owl-Pirate. What hybrid costume ideas can you little one come up with? A Pumpkin-Princess? A Mummy-Cat? A particularly observant child may notice that the faces on Karl's monster mask changes to reflect the expression on his face in each scene. Also, Stillwater paints his story in the middle of the book with a calligraphy brush and ink. That story is in black, white, and grey, except the butterflies on the female protagonists' dress, which stand out in purple or blue.
I read this story last Halloween with my niece, Emily, when she was four. Like one of the characters in the book, Karl, she was scared when I told her the book was a ghost story. However, once we were reading it, Emily enjoyed 'the moon princess dress' costume worn by one of the characters. She also had a lot of questions at the end of the book, and we discussed what the book was really about. The story Stillwater tells does not have a definitive answer. It will lead to many questions from your child, which is great practice for real life, since life isn't always black and white.
--Audra