#867 of 1001 · December 15, 2022

Today I have been contemplating Mordicai Gerstein’s mystical and deeply moving The Mountains of Tibet. The story follows the cycle of a human life from childhood, through adulthood, to old age and into the afterlife itself. A man lives and dies in a small Tibetan village. After his death, a mysterious entity speaks to him, offering him first the option to be reincarnated and then a series of further choices homing in on a place of birth—from galaxy to planet to nation to family. As much as the wide array of unfamiliar options dazzles him, the man ultimately chooses to be born in the same village where he spent his previous life—this time as a girl. Gerstein pairs his simple yet thought-provoking story, inspired by readings of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, with cosmic watercolor and gouache illustrations reminiscent of luminous mandalas. #mountains #tibet #mountain #birth #life #death #rebirth #universe #world #earth #family #cycle #book #books #childrensbooks #picturebook #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks