It seems like books on Buddhism—or at least Buddhist concepts—for children are growing in number every day. Though I have yet to find one that I don’t like, David Bouchard’s Buddha in the Garden is one of my absolute favorites.

It’s a wonderful story about a young orphan, abandoned and cared for by monks. When the elder monks travel, searching for enlightenment, the boy hopes to go, too; instead, he is told to stay and take care of the garden, as the monks will not train him.  They give him the task of gardener because he was found with a peony flower.

A blind monk tells the boy that Buddha is in the garden; the boy wonders at the old man’s, though the monk will not say anything else. It is implied that the boy does not need to travel elsewhere to discover enlightenment. Read more about Buddha in the Garden