I am not very familiar with yoga at all, so I don’t know what the proper terms for each of the poses are. But that didn’t matter. With Good Morning Yoga, I knew how to do the yoga stretches. With the calming rhymes on each page and the fun illustrations, my kids were eager to join in. My daughter’s favorite page is that in which she is an explorer: one hand makes a “spyglass” at her eye while the opposite leg stretches out behind her!
Although it has been a few weeks since we read it, my daughter still likes to remember her favorite pages. This is a nice gentle way to wake up in the morning, and I am delighted to see that there is also a Good Night Yoga book by the same author/illustrator team!
Note: I received a digital copy of this book for review consideration. I also referred to a physical copy at the library because I like it so much!
Beatrice Nash is an educated, talented, and pleasant woman. But life in 1914 England does not give much credence to those qualities when she has been left orphaned and impoverished at the old maid age of 22 without any marriage prospects. To make matters worse, she must rely on her unfriendly relatives for assistance in finding a job. Her position as Latin teacher to the small school in Kent is tenuous, and she can only hope that somehow she can find the means to get ahead of her fate.
OCDaniel by Wesley King is a much needed added addition to Young Adult collections, as it puts a frequently taboo subject (mental illness) at the center of the story. OCDaniel is about a middle school boy suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but he does not quite know what it is. He feels progressively frustrated with his strange obsessions and his inability to let go of things he knows are not reasonable. Enter a strange girl from his school who has her own mental disorders that make daily life miserable. She needs help, and since she recognizes Daniel’s issue, she believes he is one that is able to help him. Together, Daniel learns a little bit what a true friend looks like, and he is able to come to a recognition of the fact that he needs help in overcoming his unique condition.
Chloe in India by Kate Darnton is about an American preteen trying to find her place while living in a foreign country. Chloe is a preteen American girl who has moved to India, but she dislikes living there because she is the outsider. She has blonde hair, she doesn’t know Hindi, and she doesn’t quite understand the social circles in her small private school. As most fifth graders may feel, she wants to be popular.
