Buddha first came to earth as a series of animals, and these stories depict the Buddha in several of his animal forms. Children learn the importance of compassion and kindness from these delightful fables which are simple and easy to understand. Gautama Buddha, the Compassionate One, prior to taking birth on earth as a human, took several births as animals. When born as Buddha, he narrated his experiences of enlightenment through parables about these animals.

Little Monk's Buddha, Pooja Pandey, Wisdom Tree, Hardcover, 61 Pages, 2008, $14.95

Pooja Pandey dwells deep in traditional Indian literature and mythology to bring it close to young readers by her lucid writing. Apart from entertaining children, she lays stress on inculcating moral values among them, which is an inseparable part of Indian literature and mythology.