Meena loves working on her school play. But when it comes time to choosing roles, she doesn’t want any part of it. Self-conscious about her clumsiness, Meena can’t imagine getting up in front of everyone only to trip and embarrass herself. Her teacher encourages her to be a tree, but standing still proves harder than it looks. A children’s yoga class at the Indian grocery her family frequents gives Meena the chance to learn skills that help her quiet her mind and still her body. Author Uma Krishnaswami has written a child-centered story that integrates the yoga elements of the plot naturally into the narrative. The things Meena is learning don’t come easily—she often struggles in yoga class, and still gets her limbs in a tangle, right up to the moments before the class play begins. But as the curtain rises, she remembers to breathe deeply and slowly, and vows to “grow her own yoga tree roots, right into the floor of the forest.” Ruth Jeyaveeran’s colorful acrylic illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to this story, which features a girl of Indian descent. Meena’s anxieties will be recognizable to many children. Likewise, her experience taking yoga is one that will resonate with many children and families today. (Ages 5–8)

Meena is excited about writing and making sets for the class play, an “improved” version of Red Riding Hood. But when her teacher insists Meena be one of the trees in the forest, she is miserable. “I can't,” Meena says. “I'm too clumsy.” The next day at the Indian store with her mother, Meena sees a yoga class underway in the back. Soon Mrs. Vohra, the owner, convinces Meena to try the new children's class. Over time Meena learns to breathe slowly and deeply—in, and out—and to make herself quiet inside. She learns to move in smooth, slow movements. But at school during play rehearsals, Meena still has trouble being a quiet, steady tree. The night of the play, Meena trips on her branches as she walks onstage. Drawing on what she learned in yoga class, Meena quiets herself and begins to move slowly and carefully. Turning near disaster into triumph, she becomes the happiest tree in the forest.