Buddhism (Eyewitness Books) [Hardcover]

Philip Wilkinson (Author), Peggy Morgan (Contributor)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: DK Eyewitness Books

This remarkable book explores the history and practice of Buddhism, beginning with the life of Buddha and continuing to the spread of Buddhism from Asia to the Western world. Beautiful photographs show the rituals, artifacts, and architecture that are important to the Buddhist tradition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Like other books in the Eyewitness series, this introduction to Buddhism presents a series of topics on double-page spreads, each with a paragraph of text and many excellent color photographs, accompanied by lengthy captions in small type. After discussing the beginning of the Buddhist faith in fifth-century India, Wilkinson looks at different forms of Buddhism in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan and at Buddhist teachings, practices, temples, festivals, and culture. The highly visual approach lends itself well to introducing subjects such as Buddhist symbols, but it is much less effective in presenting broad topics such as "The Cycle of Life," which deals with ceremonies marking passages such as birth, marriage, and death as practiced in different Buddhist communities worldwide. Still, the book provides a visually appealing introduction to Buddhism and is a good source of photos of Buddhist sites, art, and artifacts. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN; 1st edition (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789498332
• ISBN-13: 978-0789498335
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Children's Books > Religions > Eastern

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grow! Learn! Read!, January 11, 2006

By 

L. Sansei "Bookeater Lisa" (Mountain View, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buddhism (Eyewitness Books) (Library Binding)

We were very interested in how this complicated and ancient religion would be portrayed from a Western, visiting eye. We were pleased at DK's clear delineation between the major sects were given as much devotion to detail as the sects in DK's Christian book (as well as fair portrayal in the DK Religions book!). The differences included practices by the people versus the monks, by evolution through countries, and recent adaptation to America. I don't know that the Editorial Reviewer got it right when they said the belief in afterlife was obscured. It's a Western measurement that negates what the DK Religions book and Buddhism book gives a vantage to. Very interesting stuff for those ready to move past the 9/11 God-centered/Christian-Islamic dialogue toward a more inclusive world view! Read on about Eastern religions that preceded these dialogues by a few hundred years! Very insightful!