Little Yoga by Rebecca Whitford and Martina Selway
This brightly illustrated picture book is designed to teach toddlers about yoga. The pictures show children doing various simple poses with drawings of animals the poses are reminiscent of. For example "Yoga Baby spreads his arms like a butterfly", with a picture of a child waving his arms and a drawing of a butterfly on the facing page. A section in the back of the book gives explanations of the poses and some tips on how to use the book, such as practising with your child so she can copy you.
My eighteen month old daughter had trouble understanding how to do some of the poses at first so we took a break from the book for a while and revisited it when she was a little older (about two). She then liked the book so much that for a while she would constantly ask me to come and do yoga with her. Her favourite part was the Lion's Breath.
For me, using this book meant that while I couldn't get too deeply into my yoga practice at home while caring for a toddler (doing Tree Pose with a two year old clinging to your leg is not impossible but it takes the difficulty level up a notch!), I could at least start to sow the seeds for her to practice with me in future if she wants to.
If you like this book you might also enjoy "Sleepy Little Yoga", which is by the same author and is designed to help toddlers wind down at bedtime.
Rated 8/10
