I think I would have liked this better with a less contemporary take on the subject or if it was a more realistic presentation. The story is too “how a kid and their family is today” with the language and actions of the characters. Obviously meant to grab a young reader, for the adult it could be a distraction to the story of Siddhartha. While I do not know for sure he did not have stuffed animals, somehow, I do not think he would have had them or called them that. (Of course, my bias comes from the Buddha not having material items, but “Sid” did and I forget he always was not always Buddha). However, I understand that the text is for a younger, modern audience and Lendler wants to capture their attention. Yet these “quirks” take away from the story for me.
With that said, I love the illustrations of Little Sid: The Tiny Prince Who Became Buddha by Ian Lendler. They are bright and more fun to read than the text was for me. They have a classic feel of a fairy tale or myth, but at the same time it is slightly more now, too. And ironically, that is not as hard for me to handle.
All my observations are for my personal tastes and where I as mentally when reading it. I know I would have had customers for it (a teacher looking for a new fairytale, a teacher looking for a book to tie-in with a world history or religion class) so this book is worth looking at.