Yoga Bear: Yoga for Youngsters
PreSchool-Grade 1 - Beginning with a section that emphasizes the benefits of yoga, its appropriateness for children with special needs, and the sheer enjoyment of its pursuit, Pierce then introduces 22 postures. Each spread features a full-color photo of a child in a pose, a sometimes-rhyming introductory phrase ("Arch your back, scary Cat"), brief instructions addressed to parents, and a line highlighting physical benefits. Only the finished pose is shown. Drawings of a white bear in various situations are also included. Unfortunately, these illustrations add little to the text, and the "yoga bear" theme seems a bit forced. For the lion pose, the bear is hiding under a bed containing an angry lion, along with the rhyme, "Does a Lion snore, or does he roar?" The idea of the fierce lion snoring in a bed is distracting, and an illustration of a bear quaking under a bed to illustrate a yoga pose designed to build courage seems contradictory. The artwork, done in pen and colored inks and pencils, has a clumsily doodled look. Thia Luby'sChildren's Book of Yoga(Clear Light, 1998) provides a better introduction to the topic, with far more poses and much clearer instruction.- Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KSCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.