Customer Reviews

Babar's Yoga for Elephants

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this book after seeing some of its illustrations - a little elephant in red shorts turning a backward sommersault - in a magazine. Written in an endearing, matter-of-fact tone by Babar the elephant, the book begins with Babar's explanation of how it came to be known that elephants are actually capable of doing yoga. In the next several pages, Babar provides the reader with instructions of very basic yoga poses, and he himself illustrates how to do the movements. The illustrations of Babar folding and stretching himself into yoga poses are hysterical and adorable. Babar then takes the poses on the road, while travelling internationally. He uses the yoga to relax and meditate in front of inspiring world famous monuments. This book is fun for children as well as adults. Entertaining, cultural, clever, imaginative and just so darn CUTE.

I very much enjoyed the adventures of Babar when I was younger. This book has just tickled my fancy and I am ordering one for my yoga teacher and partner. It is well done, entertaining, extremely accurate (how do elephants get into those poses when I can't?) and a great treasure for someone into the practice of yoga. This will be on my list of Eastern-themed gift books to give this Holiday season, along with my other favorite gift book Open Your Mind, Open Your Life by Taro Gold.

After teaching Yoga for 30 years, it's wonderful to have my favorite character Babar, as an aide. I'll use his book as a humorous textbook for my practice.
Thank you dear Babar, I've always admired you.
SUSIe

Hatha Yoga is generally form based. Elephants need to know the "proper" position for their trunks while they perform asanas. The author shows where the trunks should be positioned for maximum effect.

Humans can also follow the book's pictures, sans the trunk positions, and perform a nice hatha class.

My granddaughter and I first saw this book at a local yoga studio. She is familiar with Babar and his exploits, and has done yoga with me for a few years, so she was tickled when she saw "Babar's Yoga" and began to read several noteworthy quotes to me, including the revelation that elephants had in fact invented yoga! She was so charmed by the book, she put it at the top of her Christmas list, and was delighted to find it under the tree. The book does provide accurate yoga information, actual poses illustrated by elephants, and a sense of the yogic purpose. It'a a fun introduction to yoga.

Written in good humor for adults and children. I got it for my grandchildren and they like it. Babar talks to people as though they were visitors from another country, who need to be told about the wonderful things in his world. Yoga is one of those wonderful things.

This is a super cute yoga book for children, starring (and narrated by) Babar the Elephant. It talks about the earliest days of yoga (apparently, yoga was actually invented by elephants, although they looked more like woolly mammoths in the illustration), and then tells of how it was rediscovered and spread once again through the elephant world not long ago. Babar then takes us through his daily practice, and ends with some ideas of yoga to do on vacations at a variety of famous places (including the Golden Gate Bridge).

Today, I used the book to teach the class at my son's school (children ages 4 through 7), and it worked out very nicely. I read the intro, then we did the asana practice (beginning with Sun Salutations, which is how I always start the kids in their practice anyway), and I finished by reading the last section of the book, which was all text. The kids were particularly interested in seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, since we live near enough that it's a familiar landmark to everyone. It was a very nice way to do our practice today, and it is a lovely book for anyone who wants to introduce yoga to young children.

I disagree with the reviewer that said the poses are too difficult for small children - the only pose I didn't have them do was headstand. Also, they didn't find the instructions at all boring, since they were actually doing the poses as I was reading. It worked really well.

As Babar earnestly tells us on page one, archaeololgists recently discovered drawings on cave walls of elephants in yoga positions. After much research and study, these scientists came to the conclusion that "not only were elephants capable of performing yoga, it seemed they had invented it." Unfortunately, over many millions of years, this ancient art was forgotten. But now, yoga has once again become popular among elephants, especially in Babar's home of Celesteville. "The life of a modern-day elephant is stressful and complicated. Yoga turned out to be exactly what we in Celesteville needed, offering calm and control in days that were busy and demanding..." Join our friendly and endearing pachyderm as he explains in detailed, easy to follow, step by step instructions and pictures, fifteen yoga exercises. And then join Babar and Celeste on their many travels and adventures as they demonstrate just how they use them. Often they try and match their yoga positions to the things around them. "I think it is a nice way to meditate. This allows us to connect to the world around us." At the Metropolitan Museum of Art Babar posed in the Arm Balance position and looked just like a skyscraper. Paris' Eiffel Tower inspired Proud Warrior, and Venice's Piazza San Marco was the perfect setting for Standing Head to Knee. And at the Golden Gate Bridge, he and Celeste enjoyed doing the Cobra together..... Laurent De Brunhoff's engaging and humorous text begs to be read aloud and shared and is complemented by his playful and entertaining, signature illustrations. Together word and art create a clever how-to picture book, that will have youngsters out of their seats and on their mats, practicing yoga poses and breathing exercises, stretching, and improving their balance and strength. Perfect for kids of all ages, Babar's Yoga For Elephants is a timeless treasure and a sure classic in the years to come. As Babar reminds us on the last page..."Do a little yoga every day. At first you may not notice any difference. But keep it up, and after a few weeks I believe you will feel better in body and spirit. All of us in Celesteville hope that Yoga for Elephants will bring you peace and inner harmony."

What a fun, colorful book! If you are interested in the poster (it is adorable) be sure you purchase the correct format, the book comes in two: a large format 11.5 x 9 inches with the accompanying 22x26 inch poster and a smaller 8.5x 6.5 inch edition without a poster. The reviews on Amazon suggest that the poster accompanies both formats, this is not the case.

My daughter (almost 4) loves this book and asks for it frequently. Several of the poses are far too complicated for the little ones (under 8), but with Babar as our guide we've worked through about half of the poses and had a blast doing so.

The book offers a nice visual breakdown of several basic asanas/poses. It not only introduces kids to yoga, but prompts skill building by teaching kids how to decode sequence and movement through static visual cues. Watching my daughter work through the poses based only on her "reading" of the detailed illustrations is great fun.

Cute book, which shows various, popular yoga positions and how to do them. Plus demonstrates some great warm up stretches as well!

Babar's Yoga For Elephants comes with a full size poster & the book itself is very well illustrated! It has a very cute story about elephants & yoga that will captivate children's imagination. Have fun and happy reading!!