Book Review: Tarot for Teens

• Tarot For Teens by M J Abadie
• Published by Bindu Books, 2022
• Recommended retail price – $16.95US, $19.95 Can
• ISBN – 978-0-89281-917-1
• Tarot system – Rider Waite Smith illustrations.
• Review by Emma, Emily and Emily’s Mum

I had spotted some good things said about this book a while ago and held off purchasing it as I didn’t want to buy more beginner-type books. So I jumped at the chance to review this book with my friend and her daughter! I thought this book would be great for my tarot trainee and something we could explore together. This review is provided in several parts from Emma as a tarot reader, Emily as a beginner teen to tarot, and Emily’s mum who is not a tarot reader. We spent time together working our way through the book and collected our thoughts together.

Emma says: I’m not quite sure I would have called this book Tarot for Teens as I think this book is accessible to everyone. I’d recommend this text to beginners and not just to teens!  M. J. Abadie (1933-2006) was a professional astrologer and psychotherapist specialising in dream interpretation. She authored many texts which I am now going to explore! I so would have liked to have used this book when I started learning. This is 254 pages of tarot delightedness.

It is nicely rounded with just enough information, including some astrology and planetary keywords. The meaning descriptions of the cards are nicely done and are meaningful and concrete. Margins are used creatively for quick reference points. And I enjoyed the illustrations; they really get the art embedded into your mind. Colour would have made these stand out but they were a nice touch, nevertheless.

The book has a logical ordering and presents some tried and true ideas about how to get to know the cards and how to shuffle and care for them. The introductory text, for example information about archetypes, might be a little much to throw in at the beginning; other than that everyday language was used. The end of the book included several spreads to try; they were the usual presentations but were nicely laid out and didn’t feel overwhelming.

Emily says: I liked this book. Some parts were difficult to follow as I didn’t understand what some parts meant, but my Mum and Emma helped me with those parts. But where the book talked about the meanings of the cards these were good and really helped me to do my own readings. I liked how the book told you about other things to do with the cards, like meditation, which is fun to do. I would have liked coloured pictures for the cards in the book instead of black and white.

Emily’s Mum says: It is a very accessible book but I think it needs to come with a set of cards to help you know what to relate to or online links or what best to search for on Google. We thought the text being black and white took away the impact of the colour of the cards. From what Emily found it is probably more suitable for older teens she needed to ask about a lot of language used; the author uses quite a large vocabulary but breaks down each card clearly. I thought the book gives a good base for people learning to use the deck. Emily found it great to develop a combination of skills, with attempts at meditation (work in progress) and also helping her to work out possible meanings for the cards.