GRANDMA YOGINI

In Howell’s picture book, young children are excited to learn about yoga when their grandmother visits.

Henry and his sister Meredith, who have light skin and light-brown hair, can’t wait for Grandma’s visit. They’ve had fun baking cookies, learning Spanish, reading together, and drawing pictures with their friends’ grandmothers—what will their Grandma have in store for them, they wonder? Lively Grandma arrives on her scooter, the children’s friends come over, a butterfly flutters by, and soon everyone is sitting with the soles of their feet together, listening to Grandma’s “calm voice” while lifting and lowering their knees like the “wings of a butterfly.” The kids learn a tricky eagle pose, and Grandma also teaches the children the cat stretch. She has them lie down, arch their backs, and pretend to slither like snakes, and when Henry names kangaroos as his favorite animal, Grandma gets them hopping. To wind up the visit, before tireless Grandma rides away on her scooter, she and her grandchildren and their friends engage in an informal soccer game. This child-friendly introduction to the practice of yoga, written by prolific children’s author Howell, features simple, animal-themed poses, playful images, and dynamic grandparent-grandchild interactions. Santos’ full-color, full-page digital illustrations incorporate the easily absorbed, neatly boxed text and effectively capture the energetic presence of a non-stereotypical elder caretaker and the children’s enthusiastic response to her yoga “play.”

A peppy addition to the yoga-books-for-kids genre.