“A thoughtful and straightforward look at a man who travels to find out that what he really wants to be is exactly what he is, Stonecutter is a smart book for high school and college graduates. Muth's Zen-like black and white brushstrokes are powerful, while Kuramoto's traditional Japanese folklore stays with the reader long after the book wears out. Stonecutter would also be a moving gift for a professional forced to take a lower paying job.” —Copley News Service

“Moral without being moralistic, the tale sends a simple and direct message unfreighted by pomp or pedantry. Muth's art is as carefully distilled as his prose. A series of misty, evocative watercolors in muted tones suggests the figures and their changing relationships to the landscape.” —Publishers Weekly, review of The Three Questions

“. . . Both an accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation. Here Muth incorporates short Buddhist tales. . . . the peaceful, uncluttered pictures, like the story itself, will encourage children to dream and fill in their own answers.” —Booklist, starred review of Zen Shorts