Like a Fish in Water or Herbs

Like a Fish in Water: Yoga for Children

Author: Isabelle Koch

• A playful introduction to the practice of yoga for the health and well-being of your child.

• Includes step-by-step instructions for more than 20 postures, as well as information on breathing and relaxation exercises.

• Each posture is demonstrated by a child whose image is magically woven into full-color illustrations.

• An invitation for children, ages three and up, to experience the healthy benefits of yoga.

In this exuberant and colorful book, author and illustrator Isabelle Koch introduces children to hatha yoga, inviting them into a world of good health and vitality through her use of playful analogies and whimsical illustrations. Like a Fish in Water provides step-by-step instructions for more than 20 yoga postures and the basics of breathing, as well as a variety of relaxation exercises. Each posture is demonstrated by a child whose image is magically woven into the brightly colored backgrounds and accompanied by text that clearly and simply guides the child through the movements, using language accessible to everyone.

Daily yoga practice can provide an island of calm in today's hectic world in which children are continuously bombarded with stimuli. Yoga fosters both physical and emotional health, sharpens focus, and improves attention span. Like a Fish in Water offers parents a perfect opportunity to spend time with their children, while engaging in a healthy and enjoyable activity. So whether it is used to get the day off to a positive start or to wind it down toward a peaceful end, Koch's book and the instruction it offers is ideal for parents, teachers, and, most importantly, children.

Children's Literature

In the preface by Laurent de Brunhoff, his first paragraph provides a good summary: "The practice of Yoga provides mental peace and, at the same time, a consciousness of one's own body. Certain postures develop suppleness and balance, others strengthen muscles." Like me, Laurent started Yoga well into middle age. If I had any idea of the benefits, I would have started much earlier in life and that is why I am delighted to see several good books available for young readers. In this one as with The Kids' Yoga Book of Feelings by Mary Humphry, there is emphasis on the importance of breathing when doing a pose. The introduction provides a little history but not really sufficient to understand the basis of Yoga and what the Mudras really are. Each pose is demonstrated in an illustration and the text explains how to do it and why it is good for the body and mind. The photographs of the girl in the poses are superimposed on backgrounds that have been created by the author. These illustrations have a childlike quality. The twenty described are known by various names and there seems to be a mixture of the Sanskrit and English. The text is fairly complex and the closing section addressing breathing and relaxation exercises is printed in black on a purple background, making it almost impossible to read. The layout and text are not nearly as child friendly as Humphry's book, but a good teacher or parent could use both effectively. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot

Interesting textbook: NYPD or Friction

Herbs: Partners in Life: Healing, Gardening, and Cooking with Wild Plants

Author: Adele G Dawson

Adele Dawson's classic guide to the seasonal use of herbs for food, drink, and medicine.

• Clear directions for growing and using many wild and cultivated herbs.

• Detailed pen-and-ink drawings help readers identify 70 herbs.

With irresistible enthusiasm and an endless store of knowledge about the plant kingdom, herbalist Adele Dawson traces the human-plant relationship through the seasons, providing practical and enlightening information about every aspect of herbalism, including spring foraging, summer gourmet gardening, the preparation of remedies in autumn, and the brewing of healing potions in winter. The mysteries of preparing infusions, decoctions, tinctures, and essences are unraveled through the author's clear and cohesive chapters on how to identify, collect, and preserve herbs. Detailed pen-and-ink drawings show the essential elements of flower and leaf anatomy as well as 70 wild and cultivated plants in their budding, blossoming, and dormant stages. Sprinkled throughout the text are recipes for impromptu wild feasts such as milkweed buds tempura, directions for soothing hand lotions of marigold and milk, and an enormous variety of medicinal and culinary teas. In equal measure an herbal encyclopedia, a health-food cookbook, and a nature guide, this book deserves a place on the reference shelf of both the new and experienced herbalist.

Making Scents

A book with substance written by a true herbalist.

Table of Contents:

Herbs: Partners in Life
Healing, Gardening, and Cooking with Wild Plants

Foreword by Rosemary Gladstar
Preface
Introduction
Part I
1. Why Should We Use Herbs
2. Identification of Herbs
3. Where to Get Herbs
4. What Shall We Do with These Herbs?
5. Herbalists Mentioned in Part II
Part II
6. Salute Spring
7. Summer: Gourmet Gardening
8. Autumn: Battening Down
9. Winter: Season of Tisanes
10. The Armchair Herbalist
11. The History of Herbs
12. Honey and Vinegar
Appendix I  Alphabetical Lists of Herbs
Appendix II  The Language of Herbalists
Appendix III  List of Vitamins and Their Effects
Appendix IV  Sources of Herb Seeds and Plants
Bibliography
Index

Adele G. Dawson was a renowned herbal elder and wise woman who lived in the hills of Vermont.