Helen Manos

Samsara Dog by Helen Manos... an affecting, beautifully written and illustrated children's book wherein the dog, who is originally introduced as a feral, vicious, self-serving beast, over the course of several increasingly positive rebirths becomes a connected, compassionate sensitive, life-saving hero and friend... this book is unusual in the extent to which, as a visual narrative without overt explication, it openly connects and presents the path of compassion and realities of karma and rebirth.… (más)

In the book the Samsara Dog written by Helen Manos is a Buddhist story of reincarnation, life, death and the pursuit of love and the meaning of life. The dog went through many lives in many different situations, from being a stray dog on the streets to a rescue dog, to a dog who lives with a family and a boy who loses his sight and the dog takes care of him. One life only last a few hours to a few days, where he was living with a Buddhist monk, who tells the dog that he will continue to be reborn until he learned the reason for living, the meaning of life. The dog lived many lives until finally reaching his final life. The final life was with a boy who was injured and became blind, the dog throughout the rest of his life stayed with the boy. They lived together until the dog died and the boy cried as his best friend drifted to sleep never to wake up again.
I love this book, it showed life and death, but it showed death is an easier manner because the first few lives the dog lived didn't always say that he died, he just moved on to the next life. It would be a great book to show the way of life, as well as the meaning of life is learning to love someone more than he loves himself. It shows so many different topics that could teach kids, about death and life. In my opinion I think that the writer's point on life and death is a valid on that the dog's meaning of life is to learn how to love someone more than a person loves themselves. He lived a full life when he was living with the one person he loved more than himself.… (más)