Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Blog Tour: Good Morning Yoga by Mariam Gates


Good Morning Yoga: a pose-by-pose wake up story  by Mariam Gates. Illustrated by Sarah Jane Hinder. Unpged. Sounds True, Inc., March 1, 2016. 9781622036028. (Review from finished copy courtesy of Blue Slip Media)

Kids today are under such stress, what with high-stakes testing, the expectation that reading will happen during kindergarten if not before, busy families, packed schedules and very little down time. Any book that introduces yoga to a young audience is a good book in my opinion. This colorful and cheery introduction to using yoga to greet the day is quite special. 

The end-pages feature a multicultural cast of children outdoors and active. Sunshine yellow title pages give way to those children greeting the day with a morning stretch, twisting, bending, standing, and balancing among other poses to salute a brand, new day. There is a dual narrative at work here. In the beginning, the verso pages all start with the mantra, "As I breathe in, as I breath out," then describe how to practice the pose. The recto pages somewhat metaphorically describe how the pose might make the child feel. A bit past the middle, the pattern switches. 

The palette is bright and energetic. Most illustrations feature a funny little animal observing or participating in the poses. All the poses are accessible to beginning practitioners and a double-page spread at the end shows the entire Good Morning Yoga Flow. The book ends with instructions for visualizing a good day. 

The author's playful approach to practicing yoga is infectious. I was unaware that this is the second of her books. Good Morning Yoga is a companion to her previously published, Good Night Yoga, which I will be looking up soon.

Mariam Gates holds a master's in education from Harvard University and has more than twenty years experience working with children. Her renowned Kid Power Yoga program comines her love of yoga iwth teaching to help children access their inner figts. She is the author of Good Night Yoga (Sounds True, April 2015) and lives in Santa Cruz, CA, iwth her husband, yoga teacher Rolf Gates. Follow her on Twitter @gatesmariam or on Instagram: mariam.gates.

Check out the book trailer here.  There's also a video online of the author reading her book here.

Other stops on the tour:
Wed, Feb 24
Teach Mentor Texts
Fri, Feb 26
Where Imagination Grows
Mon, Feb 29
A Rup Life
Tues, Mar 1
Proseandkahn
Wed, Mar 2
Kid Lit Frenzy
Thurs, Mar 3
5 Minutes for Books
Fri, Mar 4
Once Upon a Story
Mon, Mar 7
Wrapped in Foil
Tues, Mar 8
Sharpread
Wed, Mar 9
A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
Thurs, Mar 10
Unleashing Readers
Fri, Mar 11
Children's Book Review
Tues, Mar 15
The Library Fanatic

Thanks to Barb at Blue Slip Media for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Please consider adding it to elementary school and classroom libraries as well as public libraries. 

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