Hello, friends! Our book today is Little Sid: The Tiny Prince Who Became Buddha, written by Ian Lendler and illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, a story inspired by the teachings of the Gautama Buddha.

Little Sid is a young boy like any young boy, with only one major difference – his parents are the king and queen. Sid is inundated with toys, gifts, treats, and entertainment every waking moment of his life, but he is unfulfilled. What he wishes for most is to spend time with his perpetually occupied parents, but whenever he tries to, they are too busy. Sid decides to leave home in the hopes of finding the answer as to why he is unhappy, asking at the homes of each village he passes to find out. At last, he is led to a mountain where three wise ones supposedly live. Will Sid find the answers he seeks atop the mountain? Or were his answers inside him all along?

This is a tough one. There are some elements that we really enjoyed here, but definitely some places where the book falters as well. The core messages of anti-materialism, perspectives, and being in the moment are universal, and can be appreciated by Buddhist and non-Buddhist readers alike. However, the representation of this being a biographical story of Siddhartha Gautama is highly inaccurate – the closest this could be considered is a “Disney-fied” account. The art has great ambition and is very cute, but relies too much on white space, making details hard to pick out and spreads feel underwhelming. The length is fine, but JJ’s attention was waning by the end. Interesting concept, lackluster execution, but still some good themes – not on our list, but you may feel different.

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)