Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

The Very Delicious Strawberry: Twenty Illustrated Zen Stories Adapted for Children is written by Tim Johnson. What is Zen Buddhism? Is it a philosophy that can help children understand their place in the universe? Or, is it something far too complex in its simplicity to be understood by the high-tech driven child of the twenty-first century? Stories always teach. Every child who listens to or reads a story takes something from the story away with them and it remains with them forever. Perhaps they won't initially understand the foundation, the intense meaning of the story, but they will remember the story. Like the stone cutter who wanted to be something better, something more powerful, and was turned into a wealthy merchant, a noble, the sun, the storm clouds, the wind, a large stone and finally saw himself as a stone cutter, the only one who could cut into the most powerful thing in the world, a large stone. The cycle of life. What appears to be greener in distant fields is not always greener once you get there.

The lessons one can learn from Zen Buddhism could change a world. It would serve adults just as well as children to read and study Tim Johnson's adaptation of Zen stories, as "exposing the next generation to the wisdom and lessons of Zen Buddhism may not have an immediate impact on their daily life, but the foundation they build their beliefs on will support them for the rest of their lives." This collection of simple stories written for children can help simplify life, for both the young and the old, with Zen ideology. Lessons like: “Hatred, my good friend, never conquers hatred; hatred is only conquered by love and forgiveness." And: "If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it, to whom does the gift belong?" And: "No one can change destiny, but it can be influenced." There is much in this collection of stories to teach all of us. A gem of a book.