Hello Bali, A Kids Yoga Island Adventure Book by Giselle Sharlow is a wonderful book that combines travel with yoga for kids.
The story tells about Anamika, a girl from India who is on vacation with her family to Bali. The story is told through the eyes of Tia the tiger.
Each page has a sentence about the family’s experiences in Bali: the weather, the water, the people. Then there is a short, two-word sentence below that young children can practice.
In addition to this, there is the chance to become familiar with a different yoga pose on each page. A caricature shows how to do the yoga pose and children can try it out. Each pose goes with something from the story on that page. For instance, on the page where “Sailboats line up along the bright horizon”, the coresponding pose is the triangle pose.
When “Villagers visit their peaceful temple”, it’s the hero pose to practice.
At the back of the book is the collection of the 15 yoga poses all in one place. They’re tabled by their keyword in the book, the name of the yoga pose, and a demonstration picture of the pose. Further information and poses can be found at Kids Yoga Stories.
Children can learn the numbers 1 – 20 in Indonesian, though I wouldn’t be sure that my pronunciation would be correct, but it’s fun for kids to try counting in a new language! There are also a dozen short sketches with translations so that children can learn a few short key phrases in Indonesian.
The illustrations by Emily Gedzyk have smooth lines and are cheerful and not fussy. They fit well with the beautiful simplicity of the book.
Hello Bali is aimed at children from the ages of 2 to 5. My children are 4 & 6 and really love Giselle’s books. They really adore books with which they can virtually climb in and be a part of it. This book is a great fit for a rainy day outside. The kids can “visit” sunny Bali and get some exercise indoors.
I f your children love Giselle Shardlow’s books as much as mine, you can see our review about the ABCs of Australian Yoga, or see our books and book activities page for lots of other inspiring books.
We received a PDF copy of this book in exchange for our honest opinions.
