Our Most Dear Friend: An Illustrated Bhagavad-gita for Children
Ages 5^-8. The Bhagavad-gita, one of the holy writings of the Hindu religion, is presented here as a story that will be accessible to children. It begins in long-ago India when Arjuna Pandava is about to fight a war and asks Lord Krishna for aid and advice. Krishna, the supreme Lord, plays the part of a chariot driver and describes to Pandava the workings of the spiritual world: "When your service to Me never stops and is done only for My pleasure, and when you are friendly to every living being, I will lead you from this world of birth and death." Krishna describes the soul's presence in every living thing, how all living things are part of the Creator, and introduces reincarnation (though not by that name). The eye-catching art is an amalgam of traditional Hindu artwork and modern photography. These montages can be quite dramatic, as in a tableau that traces the ages of man, beginning with a newborn and ending with a pile of bones. Libraries serving an Indian population will want this; others may find that it adds diversity totheir collection.Ilene Cooper