Andrea Miller

The Day the Buddha Woke Up

The Day the Buddha Woke Up is a board book that will captivate children of all ages. It’s the perfect way to introduce young children to the story of the Buddha—the clear, gracefully written story puts the Buddha’s awakening into language children can understand.

The simple arc of the Buddha’s questions, his quest, and his ultimate understanding will provide a meaningful and peaceful story that children—and their parents!—will love returning to again and again.

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Peaceful Piggy Bedtime

“It’s time to go to sleep, but some friends are sleepy, and some are not. Some are already nodding off, and some want to bounce around. Now it’s time to go from busy to peaceful. These mindful bedtime exercises will help us have a good night’s sleep.”

Bedtime can be a joy; a quiet time, a nice cuddle—a sleepy angel. Bedtime can also be a challenge; riled energy, hidden anxieties—a restless little monster! This book draws on modern science and time-tested wisdom to provide children with an effective bedtime ritual to relax the body, settle the mind, and drift into a peaceful sleep. Parents may find they sleep better, too!

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The Banyan Deer

An Elephant Journal “Best Reads of 2010” selection.

This inspiring tale reminds us that no one can be truly at peace unless all beings have a chance for peace, freedom, and happiness. The Banyan Deer is a wonderful, heart-warming gift for anyone who loves a great story. This beautiful hardcover edition will delight both adults and children alike.

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Tara’s Coloring Book

Whether you color for relaxation, stress relief, or part of your devotional practice, enjoy exquisite line drawings of the most important figures in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon—Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Tara, Manjushri, and more—by contemporary masters of the ancient art of Tibetan Buddhist religious painting.

Visualizing buddhas and teachers in specific detail is a traditional part of meditation. Therefore, the monks who created the beautiful, rich images that meditators would use in their practice would have to study for years to learn the precise techniques, geometry, and coloration required, handed down to them by old masters. Now, these images are available for you to color—whether for formal meditation or stress relief or just to appreciate their beauty. 

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Ziji and the Very Scary Man

Ziji is a bouncy puppy who lives with the Anderson family: Mom, Dad, Jenny, and Baby Jack. He loves to play and chase balls in the park with Jenny and their friend Nico. Then one day, an angry man shouts at Ziji and scares him so much he never wants to go back to the park again. Can Nico show him how to calm his mind and face his fears?

Renowned meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche shows young children how following our breath can calm us down—and how practicing compassion shows us that even Very Scary Men can be frightened sometimes too.

A detailed appendix gives further guidance for parents.

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See, Hear, Feel

So many books aim to present mindfulness in a way suitable for little kids; this one actually does it. There’s no jargon or tough concepts—just natural-language exploration of the senses and surroundings and breath, just simple, heartfelt wishes for the wellbeing of others. Creative and thoughtful mindfulness exercises will help teachers and parents gently and naturally guide children and will invite families to connect and be fully present with each other.

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The Day the Buddha Woke Up

The Day the Buddha Woke Up is a board book that will captivate children of all ages. It’s the perfect way to introduce young children to the story of the Buddha—the clear, gracefully written story puts the Buddha’s awakening into language children can understand.

The simple arc of the Buddha’s questions, his quest, and his ultimate understanding will provide a meaningful and peaceful story that children—and their parents!—will love returning to again and again.

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Flow, Flow, Flow

Enjoy things with pleasure and do let them go,
And grow into life—let it flow, flow, flow, flow.

Four children set off on a magical voyage of imagination. Along the way, to no destination in particular, they meet walrus ice cream vendors, lemurs and tigers living in harmony, helpful octopi and more. As the scenery changes, our travelers learn to go with the flow, welcoming each new experience for what it is in the moment, and accepting when those experiences drift away, to be replaced with a whole new adventure.

Children (and adults) will get lost in the detailed and whimsical illustrations, discovering something new each time they read this book. As the characters experience constantly changing settings, readers will begin to better understand the impermanence of life, and how wondrous it can be.

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Ziji

Ziji is a noisy, bouncy puppy who lives with the Anderson family: Mom, Dad, Jenny, and Baby Jack. He loves to bark and play and—most of all—chase pigeons in the park. Then one day, Ziji sees a new boy from Jenny’s school, Nico, sitting in the park. What is Nico doing? Why does he look so calm and happy? Ziji can’t wait to find out.

This book, written by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, one of the new generation of Tibetan Buddhist masters, will teach your child the basics of meditation in a fun and engaging way. Included after the story is a guide for parents and teachers with more information on what meditation is and how it can be helpful as well as suggestions on how children can continue to practice meditation on their own.

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No Ordinary Apple

On an otherwise ordinary day, Elliot discovers something extraordinary: the power of mindfulness. When he asks his neighbor Carmen for a snack, he’s at first disappointed when she hands him an apple—he wanted candy! But when encouraged to carefully and attentively look, feel, smell, taste, and even listen to the apple, Elliot discovers that this apple is not ordinary at all.

Lushly and humorously illustrated, No Ordinary Apple makes a traditional technique for training mindfulness a fun and enjoyable way for children to learn to slow down and appreciate even the simplest things.

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Prince Siddhartha Coloring Book

A wonderful companion to our Prince Siddhartha story book, this children’s coloring book Includes 31 full-size and 31 miniature line drawings with narrative descriptions.

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Mishan’s Garden

In a village high above the clouds, where nobody’s happy and nothing grows, a little girl dreams of a garden flourishing behind her father’s house. Every day the cynical villagers watch and mock the little girl. But, watered with her kindness and patience, the garden eventually yields the most important fruit: the restored hope and happiness of the entire village. Perhaps the greatest gift you can ever give another is to hold them in the highest regard and to see what is best and unique about them. In Mishan’s Garden, a little girl sees all that is good and beautiful in the hearts of everyone around her and thereby transforms the lives of her entire village.

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Prince Siddhartha

This is the story of Prince Siddhartha and how he became Buddha, the Awakened One. Lyrical verse and beautiful full-color illustrations depict each major life event in Siddhartha’s development. His message of nonviolence, loving-kindness, and unselfishness is vitally necessary for today’s—and tomorrow’s—children. A story made for the telling—open this tale to a child and shore up the possibility of a bright and loving future!

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Tara’s Colouring Book

Exquisite line drawings of the most important figures in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon: Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Tara, Manjushri, and more. The artists provide detailed explanations of the figures as well as traditional coloring instructions. A great gift for meditators, fans of Himalayan art, or anyone who appreciates beauty. For all ages.

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Happiness Doesn’t Come from Headstands

Leela loves to do yoga. She could do all sorts of poses, but there was one pose she couldn’t do. Every time Leela tried to do a headstand…KERPLUNK!

This book explores the themes of acceptance, resilience, and self-compassion and offers the message that just because we may experience a failure does not mean that we are a failure. Written as a counterpoint to the message of The Little Engine that Could, Happiness Doesn’t Come from Headstands is a story about a girl who tries her best, but still falls down. Through the process she learns that happiness is not determined by external achievement. Through accepting our limitations and celebrating our efforts, even in the face of failure, peace can be found.

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Sitting Together

This three-volume set provides a complete curriculum for adults and children to learn about mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist teachings together, either in the home, in partnership with other families, or with a local center.

The Adult Study Guide (280 pages) offers thirty-six lesson plans including meditation practices, homework, readings, and reflection questions for group study.

The Children’s Lesson Plans (296 pages), used in conjunction with the Adult Study Guide, provides step-by-step instructions for teachers on meditation exercises, stories, crafts, songs, and games.

The Activity Book (136 pages) is a perfect companion to enhance the children’s education with over 50 coloring pages, puzzles, and other fun activities.

This comprehensive curriculum for adults and children ages 3–12 has five units on meditation, kindness, ethics, character, and service. It is perfect for any family, Dharma center, yoga studio, or religious, educational, or community organization that wants to incorporate a mindfulness program for children and their families.

Check out MindfulFamilies.net: mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist resources for families >>

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Zen and Bodhi’s Snowy Day

Zen and Bodhi are two koala bears on a snowy day, out to learn about the world. Where does snow come from? Where does wind go?

Lively verses are full of mischievous fun as Zen and Bodhi explore their world; rhythm and rhyme introduce the concept of impermanence to the very young in this magical, cozy bedtime story. The two koalas sniff, taste, hear, feel, and see, exploring their senses and the world around them. Gorgeous illustrations capture the wide-eyed awe of children in snowfall in vibrant color.

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The Story of Mu

In the beginning, before the beginning, there was Mu.
And Mu was Mu and that was that and it was good.

This lush, beautifully illustrated narrative breathes humanity and warmth into one of the most famous and enigmatic koans of the Zen tradition.

The Story of Mu uses luminous illustrations and a mythic narrative structure to convey the great potential for peace and enlightenment that we all carry hidden within ourselves. Shot through with ineffable “thisness and thusness,” Mu spins a visually rich, cosmogonic fable about the origins of the universe of space, time, matter, and life. It also touches something lost but always present within the human heart: an awakeness that is without flaw, from the beginning before the beginning.

Includes a complementary essay from Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford.

Click here to flip through The Story of Mu.

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Just Me and My Mind

Young children have strong emotions, but often are unsure of how to articulate and handle them. Just Me and My Mind aims to help kids recognize their emotions and thoughts—and then act accordingly. The book includes interactive pages of emotions (happy, scared, sad, loving, angry). The reader pulls an image of the emotion from the mind of the child, helping the reader to understand why emotions might arise. The book continues by illustrating how children can “clean out and settle” their minds with quiet contemplation.

How to use this book:

It’s easy! Just pull the tab in our hero’s head. A thought will appear, illustrating the cause of the current emotion.

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