After our review of Alyson Schafer’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, a handy instruction manual to help your decipher and deal with your child’s behaviour, we wanted to share with you one of our favourite trio of books for tots, as they may exert a calming, Zen-like influence on that same behaviour. Now that’s what we call a useful one-two punch.

The first, Zen Shorts, was named a Caldecott Honor Book. When Stillwater, a giant panda moves into the neighborhood, he makes friends with three siblings – Addy, Michael and Karl. His interactions with each of the children are interwoven with Buddhist tales of perseverance, forgiveness, and simplicity. We love that you can just read the picture book part of the story with younger children or delve deeper into the Zen tales, inserted throughout the book, with older children.

In Zen Ties, Koo, Stillwater’s haiku-speaking nephew arrives along with summer. Haikus punctuate this story of compassion, friendship and looking beyond the obvious, as Stillwater, Koo and the children help out a grouchy neighbor in need and learn about the importance of our ties to each other. Zentai is Japanese for the whole or the entire, as in all of us together. And as in all the books, Muth’s watercolour illustrations convey Stillwater’s spiritual tranquility which anchors each book.

The most recent book in the series, Zen Ghosts is set at Halloween but isn’t limited by the season. Instead Muth uses Halloween traditions to tell a Koan, a story used by students of Zen to attain enlightenment, which provokes thought and conversation ands with an intriguing question with no concrete answer. Indeed we puzzled over the ending of this slightly spooky tale long after we closed the book.

If you’re looking for non-preachy ways to illustrate morals – such as do unto others – to your children, this series does that beautifully in an inspiring rather than patronizing or irritating way.

Despite being recommended for kids of five and up we think these make a lovely toddler or preschooler birthday gift as they have longevity, we’ve been reading them on and off for five years now. And each time we open them anew we end up feeling more mindful, which is something we’re always working on as parents whose minds are often split in multiple directions.

Yo, mama! Still looking for something to read? Then check out some of our other book reviews themed on everything from celebrating boy and dads to friendship.