Zen Pencils--Inspirational Quotes for Kids

by Gavin Aung Than

Overview

Explorers like Amelia Earhart and Chris Hadfield. Pioneers like Marie Curie and Margaret E. Knight.  Modern icons like John Green and the Dalai Lama.
 
These are only a few of the trailblazers you’ll meet in this collection of cartoons and quotes. Let their words of wisdom lead you to greatness, reflection, and discovery. Each inspiring quote is transformed into a compelling story that unfolds before your eyes. Follow the illustrated adventures of dragon slayers, warrior monks, ballet dancers, and professional wrestlers—all while hearing from some of the great voices of our past and present.
 
Now for kids! Based on the adult New York Times bestseller, this special edition for children will inspire them to reach for the stars.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449489069
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date:	10/17/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	44 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 12 Years

About the Author

Gavin Aung Than is a freelance cartoonist based in Melbourne, Australia. After working in the corporate graphic design industry for eight years he quit his unfulfilling job at the end of 2011 to focus on his true passion, drawing cartoons. Gavin launched Zen Pencils at the start of 2012, a cartoon blog which adapts inspirational quotes into comic stories, and hasn't looked back since.

Editorial Reviews

2017-08-02
It's hard to imagine Calvin Coolidge and the practice of Zen joining forces, but Than gives it the old-school try.Not just Coolidge (in an unusually prolix turn), but the Stoics Seneca and Epictetus; Margaret E. Knight, Amelia Earhart, and Marie Curie; Jack London, Theodore Roosevelt, and Jacob A. Riis—all are grist for Than's mill, which turns their inspirational words into short, graphic meditations. "Happiness is like a butterfly," starts one of Than's paneled episodes, a lovely bit from Henry David Thoreau that the cartoonist follows through eight pictures until the old, white man who has been trying mightily to catch a butterfly gives up and then dozes off while fishing—at which point the elusive butterfly appears on his shoulder. The aphorisms can be straight-out sharp, like that of the Dalai Lama's "But basically, we are the same human beings." Others feel ambiguous—Seneca: "All cruelty springs from weakness"—or dry as tinder—Sir Ken Robinson: "We have to rethink the fundamental principles on which we're educating our children." Than's characters are easy on the eye, but perhaps there are a few too many transformations into superheroes, and many strips are radically decontextualized from their speakers' work, as in Riis' stonecutter. Thumbnail biographies of at most four sentences follow. It's well-intended, and these are mostly words of wisdom, but the artwork inspires more than the words, which, if timeless, can still feel musty. (Graphic nonfiction. 10-18)

Kirkus Reviews