Bodh Gaya

Children's Literature

Buddhism is a way of life. Followers do not pray to the Buddha but rather try to follow his teachings. They do build temples and make pilgrimages to Bodh Gaya, a village in northeastern India where it is believed the Buddha meditated under a special fig tree. Meditation is a key practice in Buddhism. It is mentioned repeatedly and although it is defined in the glossary, there is not adequate discussion of meditation for an audience of western youngsters who have no cultural familiarity with the practice. There also needs to be greater explanation of Bodh Gaya as the place where the "Buddha found understanding." Young readers know what it means to understand subtraction or the rules for playing a game, but to "find understanding" in the abstract requires more explanation. The chapters are repetitive, almost as if the author could not find enough to say—"What is at Bodh Gaya?" "What Else is at Bodh Gaya?" "What do Pilgrims Do at Bodh Gaya?" There is a first-person account of a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya—an excellent idea repeated in several books in this series, but in this case, the account does not sound spontaneous and the accompanying photos are not well-captioned. Bolded words are defined in a glossary and an easy-to-use index will help students just learning to use nonfiction books for research. Other titles in the "Holy Places" series visit the Ganges, the Golden Temple, the Vatican and the Western Wall. 2003, Raintree,
— Karen Leggett