Here is a review of a book that can been found in the Juvenile Non-fiction area of the Kalona Public Library:

THE DALAI LAMA by Demi

A Book Review by Jeanette Miller

Demi, the author of this book, has written and illustrated many children’s books.  She lives with her husband in the state of Washington.

The Dalai Lama is a book of 30 pages that was written for children and teens.  I am neither but I appreciated the way that Demi provided information about the country of Tibet which is located at “the top of the world” in the Himalayas.  She introduces her readers to Tibetan Buddhist thought and culture in a way that is not difficult to understand.  She also introduces us to a gentle people who have suffered religious and political persecution at the hands of the Chinese government. 

The Dalai Lama, the peaceful spiritual and political leader of Tibet, had to escape in 1959 so that he wouldn’t be killed.  At that time hundreds of Buddhist monasteries were destroyed and thousands of monks and nuns were arrested or killed in an attempt to destroy a religion and a culture.  The Dalai Lama fled to northern India where he began to lead a government in exile.  He has continued to lead in this way for over 50 years.

In the spring of this year, at the age of 73, he visited the United States where in Boston he met with the news media as a media center was named after him.  He also met, for the first time, with Chinese academic scholars in an exchange that convinced them that “…he is nothing like the figures depicted in Beijing’s propaganda.”  (The Boston Globe, May 4, 2009)

Author Demi concludes her story of the Dalai Lama by describing his life in India as a productive one where he’s set up centers to preserve holy scriptures, Tibetan art, culture and medicine.  He also organized free public schools where the Tibetan language could be preserved.  All of these endeavors serve as a model for a restored Tibet.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama wrote the introduction for Demi’s book.  He writes, “Since 1959 Tibet has been occupied by China and many of the things we once loved have been lost.   …I have lived in exile in India with about 100,000 Tibetans who have also left our homeland.  Here we have been given help to build new homes, schools and monasteries and to preserve our traditional customs and values.  Our lives are quite comfortable compared to many of the six million Tibetans whose lives in Tibet are miserable.  The dream I am working to fulfill is that one day soon there will be freedom, peace, and happiness as there once used to be in Tibet.”

Here's a great New York Times article about Ray Bradbury and his love of libraries:

www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/20ventura.html