Bear Facts of Buddhism

In the early 1990s, readers looked for inner peace in a book called “The Tao of Pooh,” a guide to the basic tenets of the ancient Chinese religion of Taoism as experienced by the lovable children’s book character, Winnie the Pooh.

Well, Taoism, it seems, has fallen out of vogue. This week booksellers are making room for “Buddhism for Bears” (St. Martin’s Press, $12.95), an easy-to-understand guide to the methodology of Buddhism, founded in northern India around 500 BC.

Written by Claire Nielson and illustrated by Chris Riddell, the book is divided into four sections: wisdom, self-control, techniques and truth.

From meditation to karma, the tidbits bring the basic tenets of Zen to life through illustrations of bears following or fouling up the simple principles that can lead bears (and humans) out of hibernation and into enlightenment.