Stonecutter - Tapa dura

Praise for "Stonecutter" "A thoughtful and straightforward look at a man who travels to find out that what he really wants to be is exactly what he is, "Stonecutter" is a smart book for high school and college graduates. Muth's Zen-like black and white brushstrokes are powerful, while Kuramoto's traditional Japanese folklore stays with the reader long after the book wears out. "Stonecutter" would also be a moving gift for a professional forced to take a lower paying job." --Copley News Service Praise for Jon J Muth: "Moral without being moralistic, the tale sends a simple and direct message unfreighted by pomp or pedantry. Muth's art is as carefully distilled as his prose. A series of misty, evocative watercolors in muted tones suggests the figures and their changing relationships to the landscape." --"Publishers Weekly," review of "The Three Questions" ." . . Both an accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation. Here Muth incorporates short Buddhist tales. . . . the peaceful, uncluttered pictures, like the story itself, will encourage children to dream and fill in their own answers." --"Booklist," starred review of "Zen Shorts" Praise for Jon J Muth: "Moral without being moralistic, the tale sends a simple and direct message unfreighted by pomp or pedantry. Muth's art is as carefully distilled as his prose. A series of misty, evocative watercolors in muted tones suggests the figures and their changing relationships to the landscape."--"Publishers Weekly," review of "The Three Questions" "" ." . . Both an accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation. Here Muth incorporates short Buddhist tales. . . . the peaceful, uncluttered pictures, like the story itself, will encourage children to dream and fill in their own answers."--"Booklist," starred review of "Zen Shorts" Praise for Jon J Muth: "Moral without being moralistic, the tale sends a simple and direct message unfreighted by pomp or pedantry. Muth's art is as carefully distilled as his prose. A series of misty, evocative watercolors in muted tones suggests the figures and their changing relationships to the landscape."-"Publishers Weekly", review of "The Three Questions" "" ". . . Both an accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation. Here Muth incorporates short Buddhist tales. . . . the peaceful, uncluttered pictures, like the story itself, will encourage children to dream and fill in their own answers."-"Booklist", starred review of "Zen Shorts" Praise for Jon J Muth: "Moral without being moralistic, the tale sends a simple and direct message unfreighted by pomp or pedantry. Muth's art is as carefully distilled as his prose. A series of misty, evocative watercolors in muted tones suggests the figures and their changing relationships to the landscape."--"Publishers Weekly," review of "The Three Questions" "" ." . . Both an accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation. Here Muth incorporates short Buddhist tales. . . . the peaceful, uncluttered pictures, like the story itself, will encourage children to dream and fill in their own answers."--"Booklist," starred review of "Zen Shorts"

This adaptation of a Chinese folktale begins with a man's dissatisfaction with his life. Weary of being a stonecutter, he becomes many things in his quest for authority, each time finding that greater power lies elsewhere. Rooted in Taoist principles, "Stonecutter" is a story about the nature of power and the value of accepting who you are. Originally published in a limited, fine art edition and long out of print, this is one of Jon J Muth's most heartfelt and exquisite works, and a book he entrusted to Feiwel and Friends to reach a wide new audience.