Seven Stories of Ying and Yang

This book "Seven Stories of Ying and Yang" is a children's book meant for the 12 to 16 age group, although an adult would enjoy it as well (example, Harry Potter books). The seven stories concern a pair of magical goldfish who are sisters (Ying a red goldfish, Yang a blue goldfish) who live in a fishbowl that sits in the children's library of a small Japanese village. They secretly perform magical acts to teach the children wisdom from a Zen perspective. The stories and characters are linked, but can also stand alone as stories teaching a particular lesson in caring for others or in understanding the nature of life.

The tone of "Seven Stories of Ying and Yang" is what I would call "Zen parable playfulness". Each story presents a situation the Japanese village of Shimo must deal with; storms, mysteries, strange visitors . . . etc. The time is the Old Kingdom, meaning modern conveniences are not available to the children of the village. Ying and Yang help the children with magical spells, although this is not always apparent to the children. The sister fish talk while floating on the surface of their bowl in the library, but only the children can hear them. Throughout the stories there is a playfulness and humor. But underneath there is always some Zen lesson about life and the nature of the world being shown. The magic of Ying and Yang is hidden; yet is always revealing something to the children of the village.