Twist: Yoga Poems

by Janet S. Wong, Julie Paschkis (Illustrator)

Overview

Come explore yoga in a new way with TWIST,
a collection of sixteen original poems sure to inspire even the youngest yogi! Feel the damp soil beneath you as Cobra, and grab hold of a star as Half-Moon. From Low Crow to Eagle and from Triangle to Tree, yoga comes alive with Janet S. Wong's artful creativity. Add vibrant illustrations by Julie Paschkis, and each pose is no longer simply a stretching position, but a picture and a story that will exercise the imagination as well as the body.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689873942
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	02/27/2007
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Janet S. Wong is the author of more than a dozen picture books and poetry collections. Her work includes Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, and Knock on Wood: Poems About Superstitions, both illustrated by Julie Paschkis, as well as Grump, a Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Book, illustrated by John Wallace. Janet lives with her family in Medina, Washington.

Julie Paschkis is a painter, textile designer, and award-winning illustrator and author of many books for children, including Vivid: Poems and Notes about Color; Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown, an Américas Award winner and an Orbis Pictus Honor book; Night Garden: Poems from the World of Dreams by Janet S. Wong, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book; Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman; and Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary by Julie Larios, a Boston Globe–Horn Award Honor Book. She lives in Seattle with her husband. Visit her at JuliePaschkis.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2–5
This collection of 16 poems touches on the uplifting and emotional aspects of yoga, putting words to the spirit of the poses and evoking the energy and feelings of the practice. Wong's simple verses read almost like haiku, using imagery to get to the essence of the positions, rather than teaching how to perform them. On each spread, Paschkis's watercolor paintings frame both the poem and a child performing the pose with colorful fauna, flora, and people that suggest India as well as that particular exercise. The youngsters are varied ethnically though all wear clothing with Indian colors and patterns. The words and images blend together effortlessly, with energy and beauty. A few minor concerns: Tree pose should never be done with the foot directly on the knee as shown in the illustrations. Handstand shouldn't be done with the head on the floor and is a dangerous pose for children to try without direction. However, this is not an instruction book and readers should be directed to resources such as Baron Baptiste's My Daddy Is a Pretzel (Barefoot, 2004) to learn the actual poses. A simple author's note provides added encouragement for novices. Lovely to listen to and to look at, Twist is sure to inspire some new yogis.—Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The current yoga craze insinuates its way into children's poetry in this attractively designed volume. Sixteen poems illuminate a variety of yoga attitudes, beginning with "Breath" ("Breath is a broom / sweeping your insides") and ending with "Twist." A multicultural cast of happy child yogis stretches and poses its way through the collection, framed in boxes set against mandala-like backgrounds that extend the theme of each given position. So a boy in the eagle position appears opposite the text box, both of which are set against a symmetrical landscape with mirror-image eagles perched atop, and so on. The poetry itself at its best both encapsulates the position in question and adds a zen fillip: "A warrior / takes his stand, / feet planted sturdy and strong. / Before long, he sees / he is heading the wrong way. / He turns and / takes his stand, / feet planted sturdy and strong." Altogether, it's a thoughtful, well-crafted approach to an activity that is beginning to make inroads into elementary wellness curricula. Whether this volume, like America's infatuation with yoga itself, will have lasting appeal is debatable. (Picture book/poetry. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews