Rachel’s Day in the Garden: A Yoga Book Review

Welcome to the new and improved, Are Those Your Kids! I’m debuting my redesigned site with a new blog post today and tomorrow.

Today’s post is exciting! It’s a review of Rachel’s Day in the Garden by Giselle Sharlow. Giselle is the author of Kids Yoga Stories. Her yoga books for kids get children learning, moving, and having fun. Giselle draws from her experiences as a teacher, traveler, yogi, and mom to write the yoga stories found at www.kidsyogastories.com/store or on Amazon(amazon.com/author/giselleshardlow) worldwide. The purpose of her yoga books is to foster happy, healthy, and globally educated children. She lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.

As you all know, I am passionate about books and reading with my children. Giselle did an amazing job writing a book that is age appropriate (2-5) and engaging. As an educator, I always appreciate specific instructions.

At the beginning of the book, she explains how to get the most out of all the resources given in the book.

She reminds you to be safe as you try yoga poses with your child, refer to the list of kids yoga poses and the parent-teacher guide at the back of the book, read the story with your child and act it out, and flip through the story to familiarize yourself with the content.

If you are a newbie to yoga, or just the thought of it intimidates you, don’t worry, this book is for you! Don’t think your kids will like yoga? You might be surprised!

I took my kids to yoga in the park and they loved it!

This was the perfect book to introduce to them after our fun experience.

Let me share some of the benefits of yoga for kids with you:

·        increases strength and flexibility

·        helps them relax, unwind, and calm down to reduce stress and anxiety

·        helps them sleep better

·        promotes interaction between adult and child, and between multiple children

·        improves their fine and gross motor skills, as well as their coordination

·        develops self-confidence, self-expression, and body awareness

·        promotes a healthy, active lifestyle

As a farmer’s wife, I love all the references to gardening. This one was my favorite,

“Rachel remembered that she had pumpkin seeds to plant in the garden. She spaced the seeds two inches apart in the brown, wet soil. “I love getting my hands dirty!”

If you want to read the story and practice the poses, then you will love the list of poses at the end of the book. Each pose is listed by keyword, pose name and a cartoon pose demonstration.

Another great feature of the book is that on each page, the main character is either in a yoga pose, or there is a small version of the character in the corner demonstrating the pose along with the name of the pose listed.

I hope you’ll consider adding this book to your collection! Where can you find it?

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24873899-rachel-s-day-in-the-garden

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/1RzYXCK

Book Sales Page: http://www.kidsyogastories.com/product/rachels-day-in-the-garden/