Your Body Belongs to You by Cornelia Maude Spelman
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Book Reviews of Your Body Belongs to You
Book Review: An excellent primer on welcome and unwelcome touch.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have two young children who were going to camp for the first time and I wanted something that was empowering and not scary. They haven't experienced sexual abuse, thank God, so this book was totally appropriate for them right now. Children who have had different experiences may need something more specific or graphic. But for young, inexperienced children I felt this book was awesome. I like the "Note to Parents" that provides some insights to parents just beginning to prepare their children for this issue. This book could be used to address any other types of inappropriate touching, not just the sexual type. This book *does* promote the child's autonomy appropriately.
People who think that this book doesn't promote enough "autonomy" on the child's part are suspect. That is subterfuge for "the child would 'choose' sexual touch with an adult" if they were given this "autonomy". Watch them. They are trying to manipulate you into thinking that "allowing" children to have more "autonomy" around who touches them is ok. Reader989898/ChildSafetyFirst (yes this is one person) is one of those people. Read his/her other reviews as well as the comments for his/her review of this book. I think Reader989898/ChildSafetyFirst is a classic real time example of a deviant trying to insinuate his/her twisted beliefs into mainstream thought. I've read that most deviants of this type have a very strong desire for validation.
We are the parents, we use common sense, empathy, education, and our gut to protect our children. Children will "play doctor" with each other or masturbate. This is nothing to be alarmed about and we deal with those issues according to our individual values (I'm committed to avoiding shame of course). Sexual touch by a much older (~2+ years depending on the kids involved) child or adult *is* something to protect your child from and empower them against. And this book does that.
I highly recommend this book.
Book Review: Great intro book or classroom tool.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a great resource for ages 3-6/7 to cover aspects of touching including unwanted touching, what to do if you don't want to be touched, areas of your body that are private and not keeping secrets. The great thing about this book is that overall it has a positive message - that most of the time kids like to be touched. This allows the book to be reader friendly to the children without scaring them. More importantly, it does not use specific body part language, instead referencing the area covered by your bathing suit as your "private parts". This makes it great for classroom use where the children are being introduced to their bodies and terminology at different times based on their curiosities and maturity (as determined best by the parents). I strongly disagree with any notion that a young child needs to know specific terminology in order to understand that certain areas of their body are private. With that said, children who are already familiar with this topic and have begun to have more specific questions about body parts and function or can grasp more complex scenarios may need a more advanced book on this topic (or you can just talk to them more specifically about it)! Overall, great first book to introduce your child about child abuse safety and suitable unoffensive book for classroom use.Book Review: Simple Text That Gets an Important Message Across
Summary: 5 Stars
This 19-page book contains simple text and warm, gentle, colorful illustrations. I think caring adults should read this book to every child age 2 and up; children age 4-8 will probably be able to read it themselves. The book covers a few simple concepts that would not only empower a child, but shy/unassertive people of any age.By the end of the book, you'll know: 1)your body belongs to you; 2) it's okay if you don't want to be touched; 3)what to do if you don't want to be touched; 4) your "private parts" are the parts of your body that are covered by a bathing suit, and 5) you shouldn't keep a "touching" secret.
However, this message is conveyed in a very safe, non-threatening manner, and the book begins and ends by acknowledging that most of the time we do like getting hugs and kisses. (Not all touches are bad).
I highly recommend this book!
Book Review: Cute, and a good place to start
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this book is a great place to start, and the message is simple and clear. It looks appropriate for very young children (2 to 4 yrs old), but I think even older kids can read and re-read it and get the message. Sometimes a complicated issue is easier to think about and discuss if it comes across in an uncomplicated manner.
I found it very interesting that a reader negatively reviewed this book and called it "hysterical." I cannot understand what would be so offensive, except for the possibility that a child standing up for herself or himself somehow interferes with this person's agenda. This is exactly what parents and educators want- to empower kids from a very young age to tell others to keep their hands off.
I'm very happy to have purchased this book as a parenting tool.
Book Review: good for preschooler
Summary: 5 Stars
Since our 3.5 year old son attends a preschool with lots of different adults taking care of him I wanted to find a way to start talking to him about appropriate touching. I had no idea how to do this with a 3.5 year old so I looked through book reviews and decided on this book. It's a very mild approach to telling children about their bodies. It starts off focusing on hugging and how it's mostly a nice thing but you can tell someone if you don't want to be hugged etc.. It also discusses private areas covered by your bathing suit and telling mom if anyone were to ever touch those private areas. It's a good tool to use in teaching very young children about a very tricky subject.