Publisher: Andersen Press (2018)

Writer: Fearne Cotton

Illustrated by: Sheena Dempsey

This book makes us smile and is a BIG HIT in this household! Since the start of pandemic, our kids have been spending loads of indoor time playing, reading, and doing nothing much in particular. And then we started kids yoga sessions using YouTube videos, and oh what a spectacular activity! The entire family has loads of fun practising different poses, and our two kids enjoy all the giggly moments lying on mats and balancing with one leg.

The kids were super excited when we read this book together. The 22-month-old laughed while doing the “toes-touching-nose” pose from the book; the four-year-old loves his downward pose and was glad to see one from the book.

What I love most about this book is the honest and accurate portrayal of our stay-at-home life with kids. There is a scene where a mum tries to have a bath while getting the baby to practice yoga beside a bathtub; there is an illustration of messy household with toys scattered on floor while family gathered around a mat to do a bridge pose. I also like the “it’s hard to do a pose” moment when someone sat on your back, and the simple stretching moment with the grandparent sitting on floor.

Yoga Babies is a book that tells about how each family can use yoga as a form of relaxation, exercise, or simply just to occupy time. I love how the book depicts a few different families, sometimes of a different cultural backgrounds, like Prakash and his granny.

I also like the part where Sophie and her mummy had a dreadful day: the baby was sick, the car broke down, Tiggs the cat ran away. Amidst the stressful and unhappy time, mummy announced “Yoga time. Now deep breath and relax”. And next we saw, the cat returned and the baby slept soundly on mummy’s back. At the background, there were crayon scribblings on wall, dirty dishes in basin, groceries still in bags.

This is a great fun book that we really love and can easily relate to.

P/s: this is a library copy