While this is wonderful for kids, I wish I'd had it when I first tried Yoga so that I could have understood it and the terms better as well!

Besides explaining the terms, in Sanskrit and English, it gives great examples of what the poses actually mean and how they can relate to your or a child's everyday life.

My one wish is that the title was slightly different and I don't really have suggestions, yet "Let's Play Yoga!" makes it seem like a game when it can be very therapeutic, though I understand the need to make it attractive, like a game. to young readers.

Although this book says it is for ages 5-8, I think it has a MUCH wider appeal than that. As an adult who has practiced yoga off and on for a decade yet doesn't know much about its history, I found this book very informative and easy to understand -- but not dumbed down, which is often a problem with other yoga for kids books I've read. I especially appreciated the definition of yoga words at the beginning, the creative illustrations mixed with photographs, and loved the stories accompanied with the poses. Overall, a great introduction to yoga for all ages.

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LET’S PLAY YOGA! is a colorful children’s guide to yoga with the most charming illustrations. Geared to 5—8 year olds, it provides step-by-step illustrated instructions for 13 simple poses and techniques to produce calmer young minds and bodies. Also introduces the ten principles of yoga, from honesty to nonviolence, in simple kid-friendly language. 5/5

Pub Date 21 Aug 2018

Thanks to the The Experiment and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#Let'sPlayYoga! #NetGalley

Let's Play Yoga is a very cute book.  It starts out by explaining that 'yoga' means 'union' and that we are all stronger together.  It then goes on to explain that yamas are things to avoid - a lot of candy, bad thoughts, etc. and niyamas are things to do more of - like exercise and thinking positive thoughts.

Let's Play Yoga makes yoga a game kids can play.  It starts with ten rules, such as not being violent, telling the truth, right use of energy and not being jealous.

Then the authors created stories to go with the poses.  So Tadasana or Mountain pose, becomes Tada and is the story of a girl who stands tall like a mountain.  Then there are examples of how kids can stand tall and how it helps them focus and balance better when they practice this pose.

I thought it was a cute book and a cute way to teach kids about yoga.  I loved The Ten Basic Principles or Rules of Yoga - -those are such important lessons for all of us to learn and I can always use a reminder.  I also loved that the book explained what Sanskrit was and used the Sanskrit terms for the poses in the stories.  I felt that this book not only taught the basics of yoga, but also presented ways for kids to bring yoga into the rest of their lives or "off the mat".

This book is just flat out LONG! The first half of the book is principles of yoga. The author makes it out to be a game, and that as with any game you must know all the rules. And while I like that Idea, most kids I know are not going to read through 30 pages of “rules” (which are really more like life lessons) to get to the game. Then once you get to the “game” part of the book the author takes so long to tell about the poses, how to do them, and a little accompanying story. Overall I think the story is well executed, and looks lovely, but only the die hard children who see others doing yoga everyday, or those who have gone through all the shorter books will read this.

I started reading this book to my six and eight year old children. My son wandered off for the first half (yoga precepts or rules) and my daughter asked me to just read the first few lines of each rule so we could get to the stories. Luckily the stories captured her imagination and my son came back for some of the poses. The instructions were clear and the illustrations were gorgeous. My kids go to a regular yoga class and so I thought they''d enjoy this book. My son gave it a 3 out of 5, my daughter a 4 - but she really thinks the first half should be at the end. I have a screen shot of the page on relaxation which is a great reminder that to have balance we all have to rest, and from rest we get focus and mental clarity. The picture is of a super hero yogi resting on a cloud. I would buy postcard companions to this book as each page is a treasure.

This was such an amazing book to share with your children. Breathing exercises and yoga are a fun and easy way to promote a healthy lifestyle, and this book does a wonderful job of making yoga fun and exciting for children. Each pose comes with a small story, then shows the steps to complete the yoga pose. I loved this, and will be on the lookout for the physical book to buy for my own little library.

I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations seemed to be for younger children than the text seems to be for. I was not impressed by that or the formatting. I won't post a negative review online.

What an great book! I would recommend this for any educator who wishes to incorporate yoga into their children's educational opportunities, either formally or informally. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of reviewing this for an honest review.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher. Note that there is a website for this book if you want to take a look at that before deciding whether this is for you! It's at http://www.letsplayyoga.com.

This book is translated from Brazilian by Ana Ban, and it's a fun and colorful book with some playful illustrations and a diverse cast of kids shown doing yoga poses. It begins with a lot of well written and fun advice on what yoga is all about and how it should be approached. Anything which encourages kids to be mindful, thoughtful, considerate of themselves and others, and to stay limber in a safe way, is to be recommended in my opinion!

The book is easy and gentle, and it has a lot to say about how yoga arose and what it's all about without going into too much detail on any one topic; then it goes on to show some simple yoga poses which any kid can work at. Not that it's treated as work! The authors talk of it as play, which is a great approach, because this should appeal to any kid. The book is very portable, too. it worked as well on my phone as it did on my tablet, although I have to say that some of the pages were a little hard to read not because of small text (the pages enlarge), but because of a bright green page background with off-white text! But that was only for a couple of pages.

On a personal note, I tried a yoga class one time, a while ago, and I was so disappointed in it that I never tried anything else along those lines! Unlike this book, the instructor didn't offer anything about the history and practice, and he gave no preparation, no advice, and no stretching. His sole purpose seemed less aimed at teaching us than it was at showing off what he himself could do. He offered no suggestions as to a daily regime or organized system for people to follow, and the entire class felt like a waste of my time.

I could have used a book like this when I was a kid, as well as in place of that class! It was nice to read a thoughtful and useful introduction to it. I was pleased to discover that something like this was available, aimed at kids, and which takes a holistic approach to the entire practice, discussing it in some detail but not too much, and advising kids to enter into it gamely, confidently, but cautiously, so no-one accidentally injures themselves by trying things too quickly, too strenuously or too enthusiastically!

Kids are not urged to try to get everything right from day one, but to enter into it in a spirit of can-do, and to keep practicing until the stretches and poses become second nature. It covers mindfulness, breathing (which an be employed in stressful situations away from the yoga mat!), and the poses or sanas. It's perfect for kids who may have problems exercising, because they're not required to do everything at once or to do it perfectly, or to run marathons! All they're asked is to give it a try, and to simply do as well as they can.

It's a nice philosophy to go with some nice relaxing exercises that will juice your joints, limber your limbs, spark your spine, and generally make you feel like you're doing a little something to make life better. There's nothing back-breaking or too hard here, so any child ought to be able to join in. To that end I would have liked to have seen the admirably diverse group of kids pictured here also include someone who was overweight or perhaps handicapped in some way to show that this can be done by everyone to the limits of their individual abilities and restrictions. All you need is a yoga mat - or something that will work as one - comfortable clothes, bare feet, and a willingness to give it a try! I think this is a great book, and I highly recommend it.

Exercising sometimes seems too rigorous and uninteresting for children. This book provides wonderful stories that guide the students' interest and attention to the wonderful poses. Step by step details make the poses fun for the readers.