THE WISDOM OF THE CROWS

A pleasingly produced, trenchant collection; Chîdzin and Kohn have selected tales of varying lengths, from ``Useless Work,'' a short, humorous Zen tale that puts a high nutritional bite into the well-worn suggestions to ``get over it,'' to the longer ``Goodheart and the Goddess of the Forest,'' a tale from Myanmar. The authors' informative foreword describes the nations to which Buddhism has already spread and its current status as the fastest-growing religion in Europe and the US. Although the tales have various origins, they are united in that each reflects a truth in the Buddha's teachings that can be grasped by children as well as adults, and is offered lightly rather than dogmatically. These are stories to amuse readers for an hour or sustain them for a lifetime; they're presented here with deceptively entertaining adroitness of text and immense visual appeal, due to newcomer Cameron. A extremely worthy book. (Folklore. 7-10)