'Zen Pencils: Inspirational Quotes for Kids' by Gavin Aung Than is a collection of famous quotes that have been illustrated.

As in the other Zen Pencils collection, the artist takes famous sayings and illustrates them in interesting ways. So for the armed forces motto, we see a warrior training for battle, then heading in the mountains to fight a monster. Theodore Roosevelt's quote is about a man watching tv, and the man he's watching actually climbing a mountain.

These are some good quotes, but kids might be a bit young of a description as some of these quotes would probably be a bit beyond an 8 or 9 year old. Regardless, this is an inspiring collection of quotes, and I really like how this artist transforms these sayings.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

This cartoon offering is very different from my usual read. I don’t read too many cartoon style books and I thought this would be fun. It is fun with the author sharing some great quotes with unique and wonderful illustrations. My favorites were The Two Wolves, To Love at All (C.S. Lewis) and Invictus-- a Tribute to Nelson Mandela. All three of these are favorite quotes or poems of mine so it’s not surprising I liked them. I liked how Mr. Than matched the images to the literary works.

There are many other inspirational pieces with unique comic strips expressing emotions for each piece. The only thing that troubled me was some of the illustrations have very angry faces. We have enough terrible rage and mean-spiritedness in the world. I can appreciate the emotional intensity but I don’t think the terrible anger expressed is suitable for young people or a book promoting “zen”. I guess I have always associated “zen” with calm and peace although it is more accurately a focus of togetherness of mind and body in tune with natural intuition. Apparently the anger aspects did not bother other reviewers.

I read this on my tablet so I could experience the color comics. The set up allows expanding individual frames which I found interesting. I think the book might work even better in print but it worked fine on tablet too. Except for the anger emotions, I would recommend this as a unique presentation of inspiring words.

Source: NetGalley.

While Gavin Aung Than is a talented artist whose unique blog, Zen Pencils, is well appreciated by adults, his newest endeavor, Zen Pencils - Inspirational Quotes for Kids misses the mark. While I appreciated most of the individuals Than chose to highlight, I question his choice of quotations. There are so many memorable sayings which are noteworthy, that I wonder why he chose to use such little known excerpts. If only they all were of the same quality as the one cited from the Chinese Philosopher, Confucius - "Choose a job you love and you'll never work a day of your life.".

Many of the comic book "stories" created to go along with each specific recitation feature fantasy with monsters and magic including some ad hoc super heroes, a take off on Batman and Robin (Pigeon) and their nemesis the Joker (Jester), as well as knights rescuing maidens from threatening dragons. The struggles of Rising Phoenix, a woman wrestler, is highlighted in several of the comic sequences. These tales were used to explain the various statements of famous individuals such as Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Robert F Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Jack London, Amelia Earhart, and Marie Curie. Additional sayings were from more obscure names including Radindranath Tagore Bengali - a writer, musician, and painter, authors Rebecca Martin and John Green, Howard Thurman - an African American civil rights leader, Chris Hadfeld - a Canadian astronaut who lived in the space station, Seneca - the young Ancient Roman philosopher, Sir Ken Robinson - an authority on education, and Adlai Lama.

The colorful illustrations are thought provoking despite the often violent content which make them questionable for an audience which includes a younger crowd, although adults and older teens might appreciate the author's sentiments. Perhaps this would be a good book for parents to read (and explain) to their children, but I'd be inclined to skip this one.

A generous three stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Each quote from a famous person came with a cartoon strip story to illustrate the point made. In some cases, it took me longer to understand the story than the point of the quote. The quotes are mainly from people in the US and from the 20th and 21st century.

I did think that some quotes would be difficult for children below the age of about 9-10 years to understand without adult help, perhaps this is more like Inspirational Quotes for Teens? The choice of quotes was thought provoking and I wasn't expecting to find Ken Robinson mentioned (as a teacher I've watched his TED talk and admire his work).

This book illustrates some really wonderful quotes, and enhances them in two ways: (1) the cartoons assist in imagining the inspirational struggles; and (2) breaking up the quote into different cartoon panels paces it so that the entire quote is easier to digest and understand in its entirety. I particularly liked Calvin Coolidge's quote about persistence and determination. My students would enjoy this book!

I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book contains the quotes of the famous people such as John Green, Marie Curie, Dalai Lama... Each of the quotes are retold with comics. First, it was such fun to read the book. It is not only just for kids but also for adults. The short bios of those people were really informative. I didn't know a few people and those pages really supported my reading.

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Quotes, Nutcrackers, and Slime: Book Reviews

Today I am glad.
Q: Why?
A:This delightful book led me to discover the Zen Pencils series and Gavin Aung Than!

Our thoughts: This book motivates, encourages, teaches, and of course, inspires. It is like a graphic novel version of a modern Aesop’s Fables with short stories that have a moral. In this case, the moral is the inspirational quote. The book includes quotes from many different personalities, such as Rabindranath Tagore (am so glad of this inclusion), Marie Curie, and Winston Churchill. The accompanying graphics for each story and quote are like, well, peanut butter and jelly (while others are like pepper and salt, and so on..). Each quote and illustration has its own uniqueness while lending to each other. It is difficult to pick one favorite quote from a book that manages to teach without preaching, and addresses topics like racism, learning to love who you are, and more. This quote by Thoreou definitely made me happy and its whimsical illustration made me want to pick up my sketchbook.

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

Rating: A
Reading Level: While some of the graphics might be a little scarier for really younger readers, this book will be a great book for kids 7 and above (and adults as well).
Reread Level: 5/5

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley for providing the digital review copy of these books featured today.

I really enjoyed this book! It is a quick and easy read that can appeal to all kinds of readers, especially reluctant ones. The graphics add humor and allow readers to understand a message within the quotes. Educators can utilize the quotes to begin discussions and debates and encourage young readers to be the power that makes a positive change. I believe that readers, who enjoy 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Brown’s Book of Precepts, will like this book.

I love inspirational quote books, but this book went above and beyond. Putting inspirational quotes into comic book style thumbnails was genius! I loved this book and it's approach. I think that the way this book is laid out makes the idea of quotes more accessible, interesting and fun for children. I can see many readers enjoying this book.

Love this book!!! I always love quotes so when I saw this book of inspirational quotes for kids I had to request it. This book is in graphic novel format with illustrations which tell a story leading up to the inspirational quote. How cool!!! Kids might not always understand what a quote is trying to tell them, share with them, or how it is meant to inspire them. With the illustrations, they are able to understand the quote and feel the inspirational meaning! I would love to have this in physical book format to give as a gift. Definitely going to be sharing this book!

Getting kids to appreciate inspirational quotes is a pretty tall order, so illustrating them comic book style is a genius move. The illustrations in this book are clean and tight but pretty cartoony, very appealing. They illustrate the themes of the quotes well. And the themes are repeated when appropriate. We get the female wrestler and the warrior monk several times, tying lessons together. The style and quotes are appropriate for all ages. This would be a great book to use in a classroom, either to introduce a moral lesson or in an art classroom, to inspire them to illustrate a quote on their own.

It is a collection of quotes from famous people presented in a graphic comic format. It is interesting; can be explained to kids. Quotes are inspiring. A small detail about the person who quoted is given at the end.

This book is delightful. Thoughts and sayings which might normally be a bit above my students' heads are made much more accessible through illustration and the comic book format. I think this one will fly off the shelves, and I wrote down several of the quotes to inspire me in the coming days.

An excellent illustrated quote book that will inspire and entertain.

wonderful zen quotes with colourful illustrations...........

I picked this book because my 12 year old daughter likes inspirational quotes and comics, so I thought this would pique her interest. She got through most of it before walking away, saying, "Meh. I suppose it's inspirational." I read through it and would have to agree. The quotes are nice, and I really like the short bios on all of those quoted at the back. But the scenes chosen for each didn't speak to either of us. They were too reliant on a hero archetype that we could not connect with, which is a shame because we do love comics and hero stories so much. There was a lot of dragon (and other supposedly evil beings) being slayed and a woman who doesn't fit in because she loves wrestling was called upon a number of times. We embrace diversity and individual differences, but none of these inspired us. Some of the scenes depicting smaller victories ("On Happiness" that ends the book comes to mind) let us connect in a way that was more inspirational.

I discovered Zen Pencils while sipping coffee at a cafe on Penang Island in Malaysia almost a year ago and was an instant fan. Taking both contemporary and historical quotes and creatively transforming them into the comic book/graphic novel style, the message exponentially increases in meaning and representation. Ideal birthday, graduation, holiday and achievement gift for all ages and one that will be treasured and saved.

This book is a collection of quotes from famous people about doing your best, being yourself, striving for greatness, never giving up, and keeping positive no matter the obstacles. Each quote is illustrated with a short comic that tells a little story which portrays the concept of the quote.

I really enjoyed reading this book! The quotes are uplifting and there's a lot of good wisdom in this book. The comics are beautifully drawn with vibrant colors, and some of the characters from the first comics reappear in other comics at the end, so there's a sense of continuity and overall structure.

I was a little surprised that many of the comics are violent, depicting knights killing dragons, wrestlers taking down opponents in the ring, and even a Buddhist monk fighting a monster/demon. I thought that many of the quotes NEEDED a certain amount of violence to mirror the "fight for the right" message of the quote, and I enjoyed seeing those evil dragons taken down. (When you're quoting Winston Churchill, you probably need to show a fight of some kind. And that's good!) But there were just a LOT of them.
Couldn't some of the quotes about courage and tenacity have shown someone helping the elderly, feeding the homeless, tutoring a child, overcoming a bad habit, or taking a meal to a sick person? Courage encompasses many different things, not just battling dragons and demons.
The subject material for the comics felt a little one-sided, and all that violence is not very "zen".

The quotes themselves are from wonderful role-models with lots of wisdom to give the world, and each one really makes you stop and think about how you can apply that knowledge to your life. I enjoyed it immensely!

Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

Big fan, read all the previous books, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time it’s been written with kids in mind. It’s still the same format: a short visual story set around a great person or a great quote. Some highlights:
If you ever wondered where the quote about “Choose a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” comes from, it’s Confucius.
Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man In the Arena” has had a huge resurgence lately, from Dr. Brene Brown to Lindsey Stirling. Another popular one is the Native American legend of the Two Wolves.
Haven’t heard Jack London’s “Ashes or Dust” in a long time.
There’s a lot of superheroes in this.
The basketball girl crashing into the pink smiling monster is hilarious.
Robert Kennedy’s is pretty timely.
As much as I can’t stand Churchill, his was probably my fave.
In the end I didn’t feel like there was that much of a difference between this and the adult version; the stories felt the same. I suppose the artwork was geared more for kids, but this should be enjoyed by adults just as much.

This book is a mashup of inspiration quotes from famous people (mostly dead) and graphic novelization. I quite enjoyed this mashup and the way the author interpreted the quotes.