As a martial art instructor, and someone who practices Qigong, I was happy to find "Six Healing Sounds with Lisa and Ted: Qigong for Children" by Lisa Spillane. (Spillane also illustrated the book) I think one of the most beneficial aspects for health is learning to breath. It is an important part of martial art and qigong training. It's also taught in many other disciplines as well as by doctor and health guru like Andrew Weil and success and motivational guru Tony Robbins. Breathing is the key to life, and learning breathing techniques have many benefits. Therefore, I applaud any resource to assist children with learning to breath.
Obviously, when one is used to reading Qigong resources like the books written by Dr. Jwing-Ming, this simple little book does not have much information. However, you must remember that this book is aimed at young children. While my six year old daughter is not ready to read longer works on Qigong, this book was simple and enjoyable for her to read. We've read it a couple times before bedtime now.
The book is fairly short and easy to read. After a two page note from the author about the book, there are six chapters. Each chapter is four pages long, and each has the same format. The first page of the four introduces the concept and body part for the chapter, the second page describes a problem and negative feeling, the third page teaches a breathing technique with an associated sound, and the last page of each chapter is a one or two page conclusion where the sound and breathing helped remedy the negative feeling.
The six chapters are Lisa's Happy Heart, Ted's Friendly Stomach, Lisa's Brave Lungs, Ted's Peaceful Kidneys, Lisa's Kind Liver, and Ted's Sleepy Head. The corresponding sounds are haaaww, whoooooooo, sssssssssssss, tchewwww, shhhhh, and heeeeee respectfully. As the titles suggest, Lisa and Ted alternate as the characters who feel the emotions and use breathing and sounds to calm themselves and be happy.
I'm guessing that parents that don't already have an understanding of Qigong, won't purchase a book like this for their children. For those that do study this Chinese practice, this book is a nice way to introduce a couple of the concepts to your young children. I like that the book focuses on breathing deeply, smiling, and making the healing sounds to help kids better control emotions and be grateful.
I think it is a positive book for children and one that teaches some important basic concepts that come from Qigong. If you practice, like I do, and want to share with your children, this book is a simple and fun way to do it.
Alain Burrese, J.D. is a writer, speaker, and mediator who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. He is an expert on conflict and mediates and teaches conflict resolution and negotiation. Additionally, he teaches physical conflict skills in his Hapkido and Self-Defense courses, lectures, and seminars. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles and reviews and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/ and http://www.yourwarriorsedge.com/.
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