This book was written for readers in grades three through five: curious and thoughtful young people who enjoy both a good story and the opportunity to learn.

In these pages you will follow a young girl named Yuki and her grandmother through the four seasons of a Japanese pond. Each season brings new creatures, new questions, and a new chapter of an ancient philosophy called Taoism.

Taoism teaches that the wisest way to live is to align oneself with the Tao, which is to move through life the way water moves: finding the natural path, flowing around obstacles rather than forcing through them, and being gentle and persistent at the same time. Taoist ideas can help young people deal with conflict without fighting, find contentment with what they already have, look at something they fear or dislike and find the hidden beauty within it, and understand that change is not something to be afraid of, it is simply the way the world breathes. These are not old-fashioned ideas. They are as useful today as they were when Lao Tzu wrote them down beside a river in ancient China.