“Why does the world exist?”, “What does God look like?”, “Why is my brother always so nasty towards me?” I still remember that my children always kept asking me such challenging questions during their childhood. I wish I had read the book “Is nothing something?” as it really inspires me on how to talk to children about life, death, family in terms that could be understood by their little mind.

“Is nothing something?” is a book of kid’s questions and the sapient answers from Master Thich Nhat Hanh regarding life, death, family, friendship, and many other topics. The book contains the essentials of Zen wisdom and spirituality from Master Thich. Most of his answers are simple and direct which are based on Buddhist principles and belief of how to be kind, loving and full of compassion, “How can I love someone who likes different things than me?”, “Why do I sometimes feel lonely and that no one loves me?”, “When my parents divorced, they fought a lot. Why can’t they live together?”

Master Thich places much emphasis on the importance of meditation and mindfulness as a healing process which can help us to embrace our worries, fears and angers. “What should I do when I feel sad?”, “How can I control my temper?”, “How can I remain calm when I see so many bad things in the world?” The answers offer you kid-friendly instructions for mindful breathing and walking that can really help to cope with the problems.

Certainly, some of the answers are quite philosophical which may need assistance of more explanation from parents. “Is nothing something?”, “What does God look like?”, “How long am I going to live?” Master Thich tries to answer these kinds of tough questions in an understandable way.

I believe that children will love reading this book, as it is short and easy to read on their own. Illustrated with adorable pictures and simple Q&A, it is really a beautiful, peaceful and thought-provoking religion book for children.