I never realized elephants were so flexible. ( )

[Oct-09] Cute book combining on one hand several pages with classic yoga poses and sequences, good intro for children, illustrated by Babar (with trunk positions), and on the other a more traditional story section featuring Babar & co performing yoga in various locations (Celesteville, at the airport, Monument Valley, Times Square etc).

I actually borrowed this at the library for myself as a refresher -- spotted it in the children's section -- but my 2-year old loved it even if it's meant for older children. He already has some Babar books and this is more Babar to look at. He wasn't interested in the poses but enjoys the pictures and spotting various details, as well as practicing his counting skills. I plan to read it again in a couple of years to introduce the moves, we'll see.

#46, 2006

This is a super cute yoga book for children, starring (and narrated by) Babar the Elephant. It talks about the earliest days of yoga (apparently, yoga was actually invented by elephants, although they looked more like woolly mammoths in the illustration), and then tells of how it was rediscovered and spread once again through the elephant world not long ago. Babar then takes us through his daily practice, and then ends with some ideas of yoga to do on vacations at a variety of famous places (including the Golden Gate Bridge).

Today, I used the book to teach the class at my son’s school, and it worked out very nicely. I read the intro, then we did the asana practice (beginning with Sun Salutations, which is how I always start the kids in their practice anyway), and I finished by reading the last section of the book, which was all text. The kids were particularly interested in seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, since we live near enough that it’s a familiar landmark to everyone. It was a very nice way to do our practice today, and it is a lovely book for anyone who wants to introduce yoga to young children.

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