Finding Muchness: How to Add More Life to Life

by Kobi Yamada, Charles Santoso (Illustrator)

Overview

What is muchness? And how do you find it? Muchness is the full-hearted abundance of hope, joy, and imagination that each of us has when we come into this world. Over time, as we take on more responsibilities and worries, our doubts and fears have a way of growing with us. And because of this, we can lose much of our muchness. This little book is about finding it again.

Written by New York Times best-selling author Kobi Yamada, Finding Muchness follows the adventures of an adorable duckling on a journey to living a heart-led life. It's a tale full of wisdom and wonder and timeless invitations to live bravely, care deeply, and get the most out of every one of your moments. Gift this beautiful book to celebrate a birthday, graduation, new venture, retirement, or life transition. Its delightful life lessons are sure to resonate with anyone ages 99 and under.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781970147438
Publisher:	APG Sales & Distribution
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	42,618
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Kobi Yamada is a New York Times best-selling author and the creator of many inspiring gift books, as well as the president of Compendium, a company of amazing people doing amazing things. Kobi happily shares his life with his gregarious family in the Pacific Northwest, where he has much to be grateful for and much to look forward to.


Charles Santoso loves drawing little things in his little journal and dreams about funny, wondrous stories. He is the creator of Happy Hippo and has illustrated several books, including Ida, Always and the New York Times best seller Wishtree. He moves around between different countries to live and work.

Editorial Reviews

05/24/2021

Yamada (What Do You Do with a Problem?), a children’s book author and CEO of the greeting card publisher Compendium, offers in his upbeat latest some appealing advice on living to the fullest. The reader is addressed directly (“You are bursting with promise, potential, and possibility”) and encouraged to pursue various ways of finding personal fulfilment, among them dreaming, creativity, risk-taking, perseverance, kindness, gratitude, and enjoying the present moment. Alongside Yamada’s affirmations are Santoso’s drawings in gray scale with pops of yellow portraying whimsical scenes of a cute duckling after it has hatched from its egg. Yamada dispenses established wisdom, with maxims including “Lose yourself in what you love. Find yourself there too”; “effort is a path to achievement, and more importantly, to improvement”; and “doing good and feeling good are connected.” The anthropomorphic duckling, meanwhile, explores its world—writing, smelling flowers, meeting other animals, learning to fly—in scenes loosely connected to the text. (As with the statement, “Being brave and being afraid often occur at the same time,” which is accompanied by an image of the duckling looking up at a large wave.) This light piece of inspiration will make a charming gift book for graduates and others embarking on new adventures. (July)

Publishers Weekly

2021-04-14
Follow your heart, and your life will increase in richness and joy.

Whether it’s taking chances, tackling a problem, experimenting with new ideas, or being brave enough to try new things, Yamada (Trying, 2020, etc.) is a master at encouraging young ones. This time he expands on these themes, presenting a platform for living the best kind of life. Finding what you love is only the first step. Readers are exhorted to take every bit of promise, creativity, and determination they have, then practice, stretch it to its limits, and turn it into achievement. Every clichéd bit of advice is included, but there is no sense of preaching or condescension, and it all somehow feels fresh and new. It speaks directly to young readers in a gentle, warm tone and offers a blueprint for choosing the better path. Santoso’s engaging little duckling, whose pale yellow beak and feet are the only bits of color in the mostly taupe and gray illustrations, acts out Yamada’s suggestions with humor and gusto. Matching action to the text with just enough exaggeration to prove the point, the duckling exudes enthusiasm; it makes every effort to create, to bravely seek adventure, and to find the joyful heart of every endeavor. Will young readers and their grown-ups find “muchness” and ways to “add more life to life?” Perhaps and perhaps not, but they will certainly find much to savor and discuss

A lovely and hopeful philosophical exercise. (Picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews