Tai Chi for Kids: Move with the Animals

TAI CHI / AGES 4-8 Tai Chi is fun for children because they can imagine they are playing with birds, tigers, monkeys, and dragons. They can even pretend they are flying. However, children also reap the many health, learning, and social benefits of Tai Chi--focused attention, enhanced creativity, and improved balance, circulation, and overall health--through the eight simple exercises introduced in Tai Chi for Kids. Inspired by his own son's excitement with Tai Chi at the age of only three, master teacher Stuart Olson appeals to the innate imagination and playfulness of children to teach them the eight basic forms of a Tai Chi practice. Children will love imitating the animals shown in the colorful and playful illustrations, and the photographs of Olson's 7-year-old son, Lee Jin, provide the perfect guide to each of the postures. Olson uses the language of a storyteller, wonderful animal metaphors that invite children to pretend, and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions so that every child can enjoy such exercises as "Chasing the Monkeys Away," and "White Crane Cools Its Wings." The book is designed for children and parents to use together or for independent learning by older children. The book also includes an informative teaching tale of how Tai Chi first began. Tai Chi for Kids introduces children to a lifetime of physical fitness and good health. STUART ALVE OLSON has studied Tai Chi, meditation, and Chinese language for more than twenty-five years. Considered one of the leading authorities on Tai Chi, Stuart has published a number of books on the subject and has taught classes and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. He presently lives in northern California. GREGORY CRAWFORD is a self-taught artist who has made his living as an illustrator and designer for more than thirty-five years. He has worked in advertising, magazine and book illustration, film, and television. He is also active in community theater and is a passionate amateur stonemason. Gregory lives in Vermont with his wife, Jacki, and their German shepherd, Athena.