Lotus expresses her tumultuous inner thoughts and feelings and writes a beautiful, moving poem about peace to help her express and work through how she’s feeling.And unfortunately for Lotus, like many young girls, she has an older brother that likes to thoughtlessly tease her, without realizing how important that poem really was to her.
But that also leads Lotus to the beach, and in turn, on a charming, magical adventure when a pelican swoops her up in his beak and takes her away to an enchanted island, where animals speak and live in peace and harmony.
Or at least they used to.
Lotus seems to be the only one who can restore the peace and happiness on the island of animals, will she be able to break through to the newcomers who are causing the distress? And will the longtime residents of the island be able to forget their anger and find their compassion for others?
This is an excellent, highly enjoyable children’s book that explores the concepts of peace, forgiveness and acceptance with the use of animals with human traits and characteristics as the main characters. The plot is simple but strong and the implied meanings and paralells to our human lives are easily understandable by the younger reader.
It is a fantastic introduction to children about the topic of peace and can facilitate discussions and teaching on how arguments so easily start between differing people and nations.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Page Count: 104 pages
Publisher: Peace Island Press (September 21, 2009)
What to expect: a scary part where Lotus almost is drowned by a character, there is name calling and mean words used which might upset younger sensitive kids.
Publisher’s synopsis: When Lotus Alfred writes a poem exploring her notions of peace, her brother finds it and teases her. To Lotus, the teasing feels more like humiliation and she runs off to the beach. Her odyssey begins when a giant pelican swoops down and whisks her away to an enchanted island. Here the animals all talk and they tell Lotus that they are expecting her to bring peace to their land. Lotus is not convinced that she is the right person for this daunting mission, but she finds a magical pearl that reveals her innate wisdom. With this new guidance, Lotus ultimately realizes that the peace she seeks must start with her.
About the Author: In the last decade Libby has devoted herself to the study of meditation. Through regular practice of connecting with her inner wisdom she has witnessed a remarkable transformation within herself, realizing that as her view of the world changes, everything around her changes too. She was moved to write this story to inspire and delight young children to reconnect to the wisdom inside that has taken her nearly half a century to find. This is Libby’s first book.