Book Review - The Warrior Princess by D.L. Murphy

May 21, 2019

The young Warrior Princess sets out on a quest to discover her Self.  This children’s book dives deep past the poses and into the shining jewel of Yoga – meditation.

While the front and back pages of this book have beautifully sketched Yoga poses (with more hidden within) this is not the focus. The purpose of Yoga is to still the fluctuations of the mind.  Yoga poses are one tool and in this book, The Warrior Princess teaches us other powerful tools for stilling the mind.

What started out as a drawing after a guided visualization in our children’s Yoga teacher training, has transformed into a powerful book about self-discovery.  Murphy approached me at the end of this training, clearly moved by the experience. She said she had an insight and wanted to write a book based on it. And here it is. It’s a joy to see her vision brought to life and refreshing to read a picture book for children on the more subtle practices of Yoga.

 The illustrations and font choices really support the message in the story.  Subtly woven into the soft images are sketches of the Yoga pose named after the animal on the page. Can you find them?

The Warrior Princess is the classic hero’s journey of self-doubt and self-discovery.  The young heroine reminds the reader that we do know who we are.  We can turn to the world for answers or turn within. This book leaves each reader with a question. Answer it and discover your own truth.

It’s a perfect book for a children’s Yoga class to introduce the practice of meditation. The Warrior Princess shows the way. Her inspiring journey will encourage young meditators to follow her example. Just a few minutes a day has tremendous benefit.

The book itself comes out of the author’s experience with doing just what the Warrior Princess does.  You’ll have to read the book to find out what that is.