Hello, Sun!: A Yoga Sun Salutation to Start Your Day

by Sarah Jane Hinder, Sarah Jane Hinder (Illustrator)

Overview

An illustrated picture book for children that guides them through a morning sun salutation yoga flow

The latest from the illustrator of the beloved Good Night Yoga and Good Morning Yoga series, Hello, Sun! gives children a great way to connect with their bodies and calm their thoughts before jumping into the adventures of a new day.

Sarah Jane Hinder’s bright color palette and playful illustrations are filled with nature imagery and fun details for children to find. Beginning and ending with Mountain Pose, children follow along with ten classic postures as they learn to breathe, stretch, and greet the day.

For parents, grandparents, teachers, and childcare providers, Hello, Sun! is a heartwarming way to introduce children to the wonders of yoga and help set them up for a happy, mindful day.

The book includes a complete illustrated flow of poses, as well as a brief history of sun salutations and a special sunshine meditation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683642831
Publisher:	Sounds True
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Series:	Hello, Sun!
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sarah Jane Hinder, illustrator, creates acrylic artwork for a variety of children’s books, including Good Morning Yoga, The Three Little Pigs, and The Elves and the Shoemaker. She lives in Manchester, England, with her husband and two chihuahuas. See sarahjanehinder.com.

Sarah Jane Hinder, illustrator, creates acrylic artwork for a variety of children’s books, including Good Morning Yoga, The Three Little Pigs, and The Elves and the Shoemaker. She lives in Manchester, England, with her husband and two chihuahuas. See sarahjanehinder.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Hinder’s exuberant style radiates a color palette warm as the morning sun. . . The text opens with wonderful simplicity, providing movement instruction and inviting readers to notice what they experience."

—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2019-06-25
Page by page, young readers are guided through a sun salutation, one of the most recognizable sequences in contemporary Western yoga.

Hinder's exuberant style radiates a color palette warm as the morning sun. Subtle details seem to shimmer on the page. The text opens with wonderful simplicity, providing movement instruction and inviting readers to notice what they experience. It quickly becomes overworked, however, abandoning simplicity in favor of forced rhyme. The text alone does little to explain the movements, and the accompanying images are problematic as models. Like many yoga-themed picture books published recently, this work falls prey to the trap of presenting yoga sequences that are recognizable to adults without adapting the poses for young bodies. The plank and knee-chest-chin poses depicted, for example, require an inappropriate degree of core strength for the target audience. The single child depicted is overtly feminine in appearance. A contemplative, closed-mouth smile graces a tan-skinned face framed by flowing dark hair. While this version of feminine serenity will certainly appeal widely to yoga teachers and practitioners, it simultaneously reinforces stereotypical notions that yoga is an activity for "girls"—one limited to a certain kind of girl at that. Chipper animals flock to the child at every turn; one nearly expects the cast of characters to burst into song. Backmatter presents the flow of the salutation and discusses both the practice and meditation.

The Disney-princess version of a yoga picture book; undoubtedly marketable and predictably flawed. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews