Your Body Belongs to You

Most of the time you like to get a hug or a kiss, but sometimes you don’t want to be touched. At these times it’s okay to say “no”, because your body belongs to you.In simple, reassuring language, therapist Cornelia Spelman explains that a child’s body is his or her own; that it is all right for children to decline a friendly hug or kiss, even from someone they love; and that “even if you don’t want a hug or kiss right now, you can still be friends”. She goes on to define private parts (“places on your body covered by a bathing suit”) and stresses that “it’s important to tell if someone tries to touch your private parts”. A prefatory note helps parents talk to their children about good and bad touching and explains that children who are taught they have the right to decline touch are being taught they are not powerless.Of her first book, After Charlotte’s Mom Died, School Library Journal said, “…it deals with the subject of grief in a compassionate, understanding way….A solid choice”. Ms. Spelman lives in Illinois. Teri Weidner, who also illustrated Helen the Fish, lives in Massachusetts.