The Merchant and the Thief: A Folktale from India is a story of coveting, wisdom, and forgiveness tied together as a life lesson.
Mohan desires to be rich. His love for money increases so much that he becomes a thief. One day he creates the most deceitful plan yet. Mohan decides to befriend a rich man, Raj, in order to steal his jewels. But Raj is wise and catches on to Mohan’s plan. Instead of hiding his jewels from Mohan, Raj places them under Mohan’s pillow. But, Mohan looks everywhere but under his pillow.
Raj explains:
When we have our eyes on other people’s treasure, we cannot see how close we are to the greatest treasure there is…. The greatest treasure is God’s love for you my friend. It is right here with you. This love makes you a rich man on the inside.
In the end Mohan is filled with joy because he had indeed found the greatest treasure.
Heidi’s Thoughts:
Clever, well written, and nicely illustrated. Based on an ancient Indian folk tale, the Gospel is beautifully laid out.
According to Amazon, this book is written for ages four and up. In my opinion, it is for children a little older than this. It seemed to cover concepts that were over the understanding of my preschool-aged children.
Thank you to Zonderkidz for allowing me to review this book.
