Review for The ABC's Of Childrens Yoga

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Stafford House; 1st edition edition (September 16, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982258704
ISBN-13: 978-0982258705








Summary:




The ABCs of Yoga for Kids uses the alphabet, rhyming vignettes, and colorful illustrations to introduce children to yoga in a kid-friendly way. Each of the fifty-six different poses featured in the book delightfully promote flexibility, strength, and coordination while encouraging children to incorporate healthy activity into their daily lives. Yoga is a noncompetitive form of exercise, suitable for children (and adults) of all ages and athletic abilities. Any activity for young children is important because the nation, including our youth, is under siege by obesity, stress, and diseases like diabetes, which stem from poor diet and lack of exercise. Yoga for young kids will create good habits and a foundation for well-being. Children have a lot of fun learning new positions, new letters, and new ideas. This book will delight and bring joy to the early yoga practitioner.










About the author:





Teresa Anne Power has practiced yoga for the past twenty-five years, and for the past seven she has taught yoga to young children, both in school and at local organizations, helping more than eight hundred kids develop a healthy attitude toward their body. She currently teaches yoga to preschoolers and kindergarteners, and teaches parent-child yoga classes and workshops at a center for children with special needs. She has published articles on yoga in Yogi Times, Violet magazine, and the Palisadian-Post, and has spoken at numerous libraries, schools, bookstores, and yoga studios. In 2002 she completed a yoga training program with Indigo Yoga.








Review:




The ABC's of Yoga For Kids is a 32 page picture book with wonderful illustrations that teaches children how to do simple yoga poses. This book also incorporates the alphabet which can also be used as a teaching tool. The reader finds two to three or more yoga poses per letter. Then reads a simple description of the pose as the illustration demonstrates it. Parents and teachers who are not experienced in yoga will have no problem teaching and demonstrating the poses. The author and illustrator did an amazing job collaborating on this book. It can engage even the children who do not like yoga because the author includes animals and nature into the titles. She makes it fun and teaches kids how to relax and to find peace in their everyday chaos. 





The only quibble that parents will run into is the amount of time children should be doing each pose. Some descriptions included how long they should hold the pose but their should be some consistency throughout. 7-8 secs is not enough time to hold the pose especially when it can take a few seconds just to get into the pose. Maybe 10 to 15 secs for each one or longer. There wasn't an intro in the beginning of the book or anything that would help guide the readers.  They just have to figure it out. Another one would be to know how many poses a child should do in one session. A child shouldn't have to do every pose in the book every time. There should be a guide for that as well. Also included should be information on how yoga can positively benefit children in their everyday lives. It will help the parents as they reinforce the concept.  


The illustrator and author also collaborated on creating Yoga cards. These are going to be helpful to many people, then the child can just pull out so many cards, lay them out and do them. It would have been nice if they were incorporated with the book to save on the extra cost of buying them. Readers might just skip the book all together and go for the cards. They are about the same. It would have made a good addition and a great selling point to the book.  Adults would appreciate the cost savings.

Overall, children and adults will enjoy this fun introduction to yoga which can be used for all age groups and ability levels. The illustrations are adorable and fun to look at. They are easy to follow and are colorful. They enhance the text beautifully.