Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Based on a Buddhist tale, this modern adaptation tells a story of loss and acceptance.Addy, a young White girl, has a kitten she's named Trumpet for his "tooting" meow, and when she's with him "the world [is] brighter and warmer." But shortly after moving to a new neighborhood, Trumpet is hit by a car. Muth doesn't mince words here, and that's refreshing. But Addy is very sad and bewildered, and she goes to see the wise panda Stillwater, her friend, for help. Stillwater tells her he will make some medicine for her, but first he needs her to go around to the neighbors and get a cup of sugar-but the sugar can only come from a house that hasn't experienced any death. With simple, direct storytelling, Muth reveals the immanence within everyday life, a theme underscored by the perfect watercolor illustrations. Both juxtaposing warm and cool palettes and using highlights and shadows-rather than line-to define people and objects, he creates images that fairly shimmer with atmosphere and show the strength of the watercolor medium in an expert's hands. Nuanced images of Trumpet-shaped clouds and figures on the Earth underscore the immortality of memories, which Addy comes to eventually realize. This gracefully told story will comfort readers who have experienced death with its healthy truth while the gorgeous illustrations will uplift them. Secondary human characters are diverse.A master class of picture-book storytelling. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-10)

Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

In the third of Muth's contemplative series, Stillwater the panda comes dressed as a ghost to join Addy, Michael, and Karl on Halloween. After trick or treating, they travel through the misty night to Stillwater's house. There, another panda (which one is Stillwater?) shares a ghost story, painted in black ink and based on a Zen koan, which questions the nature of identity. Haunting in multiple senses of the word, this tale should captivate thoughtful readers, as Muth's watercolors convey a world of infinite possibility and gentle enchantment. All ages. (Sept.)

ALA Booklist

Following the Caldecott Honor Book Zen Shorts (2005) and Zen Ties (2008), Muth offers another gentle, reflective story about Stillwater, the Zen Buddhist panda, and his three young friends, siblings Michael, Karl, and Addie. It's Halloween, and after the candy-collecting fun, Stillwater promises another treat: a visit from a storyteller, who looks a lot like the kids' panda friend. "Is that Stillwater?" asks Karl. "Yes . . . no! . . . I don't know!" whispers Michael. That theme of duality is at the heart of the storyteller's tale about a young woman who seemingly lives in two places at once. In an author's note, Muth discusses Zen koans, and as a whole, this title feels more like a vehicle for the meditative tale rather than a developed, integrated story. But Muth grounds the book's esoteric elements with humor, everyday details from a child's world, and extraordinary watercolor-and-ink scenes that contrast the fiery shades of autumn with silvery moonlight and utilize a ghostly, simplified palette to amplify the koan's elemental mysteries. A beautiful, contemplative offering.

Horn Book

On Halloween, panda Stillwater (Zen Shorts, Zen Ties) goes trick-or-treating with the kids, then leads them to his house where "a panda who looked exactly like Stillwater" tells them a ghost story based on a Zen koan. Though the text is stilted and hard to follow, Muth's accomplished watercolor and ink illustrations are effectively mysterious and eerie.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Based on a Buddhist tale, this modern adaptation tells a story of loss and acceptance.Addy, a young White girl, has a kitten she's named Trumpet for his "tooting" meow, and when she's with him "the world [is] brighter and warmer." But shortly after moving to a new neighborhood, Trumpet is hit by a car. Muth doesn't mince words here, and that's refreshing. But Addy is very sad and bewildered, and she goes to see the wise panda Stillwater, her friend, for help. Stillwater tells her he will make some medicine for her, but first he needs her to go around to the neighbors and get a cup of sugar-but the sugar can only come from a house that hasn't experienced any death. With simple, direct storytelling, Muth reveals the immanence within everyday life, a theme underscored by the perfect watercolor illustrations. Both juxtaposing warm and cool palettes and using highlights and shadows-rather than line-to define people and objects, he creates images that fairly shimmer with atmosphere and show the strength of the watercolor medium in an expert's hands. Nuanced images of Trumpet-shaped clouds and figures on the Earth underscore the immortality of memories, which Addy comes to eventually realize. This gracefully told story will comfort readers who have experienced death with its healthy truth while the gorgeous illustrations will uplift them. Secondary human characters are diverse.A master class of picture-book storytelling. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-10)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-6 It's Halloween, and the three siblings introduced in Muth's Zen Shorts (2005) and Zen Ties (2008, Scholastic) are working on their costumes when Stillwater appears at their door. The panda invites Addy, Michael, and Karl to meet him after trick-or-treating to hear a ghost story. The walk through the forest is filled with mystery. Stillwater himselfwho said he would be a ghost this Halloweenis at times almost transparent, and his round, white bamboo lantern mimics the full moon. Inside his house is another panda who looks exactly like Stillwater. His story, which is told in words and brush-and-ink drawings, is based on an old Zen koan , or puzzle, about a young woman who is with her husband in a faraway land and yet very ill and at home with her parents. It invites listeners to consider duality, or perception vs. reality, and is at the same time a wonderfully haunting tale that's perfect for Halloween. When the story ends and the illustrations return to the earlier complex, evocative watercolors, it isn't clear whether Stillwater and the storyteller are two entities or one. The children and readers are left to consider this and other mysteries as both tales come to a close. Muth's artistic gifts are so breathtaking that they will draw in even those whose attention spans are not at first up to the demands of the text. The book functions on many levels, from seasonal Halloween story to ghost yarn to deep philosophy, and succeeds spectacularly on all of them.— Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY