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Santosha.com's Shopper's Guide to Books on Yoga
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Babar's Yoga for Elephants
by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar narrates this lighthearted guide to yoga for pachyderms (and people). He begins by explaining that archeologists working in a cave near Celesteville recently discovered ancient drawings revealing that woolly mammoths not only practiced yoga they invented it. Since then, yoga has become "tremendously popular" in Babar's hometown; it "helps us all to relax and draw strength from our inner elephant." In straightforward prose, this thoroughly relaxed elephant outlines yoga movements, stretches and exercises to improve balance and to strengthen the back and stomach. (Yoga lovers will recognize his opening Salutation to the Sun, and all that follow, as the real McCoy.) Though these instructions include playful touches (at one point Babar notes, "I find wrapping my trunk around my feet helps to stretch"), aspiring yoga practitioners can easily follow de Brunhoff's directives and imitate the movements in his signature watercolor renderings of the earnest narrator. A comical concluding sequence of pages shows Babar and pals putting their yoga positions to the test as they stretch in the airport during a delay, relax on the median at Times Square or imitate landmarks (e.g., a Head Stand in the Place de la Concorde next to the obelisk; a Standing Head to Knee in Venice's Piazza San Marco). This diverting volume conveys de Brunhoff's passion for his subject both the star and his practice. All ages.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal:
Grade 2-4-Babar confides that even elephants experience stress in their day-to-day living, and a little yoga, it seems, goes a long way in providing comfort and relaxation. In fact, the book starts out by revealing that little clay cylinders found in a cave near Celesteville prove that elephants invented yoga. This find was authenticated at the National Library, where elephants, together with human yoga experts, "discovered that all of the poses depicted on the seals are still practiced today."... read more
Book Description:
Well before yoga became fashionable via Sting and Madonna, the beloved elephant king Babar and all the residents of Celesteville were finding peace and tranquillity through yoga. And now elephants everywhere can join them! Through easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step illustrations, Babar's Yoga for Elephants presents 15 positions and stretches as well as helpful breathing exercises. The book also provides useful advice on what to do with your trunk while in position, a dilemma that human yoga books often ignore.
Written by Babar himself, the book explains how yoga was introduced to Celesteville and how he and Queen Celeste keep fit doing yoga on their many travels. Including a pull-out poster showing Babar in yoga poses, Babar's Yoga for Elephants is sure to become a classic for elephants as well as their human friends.
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