I love this child safety book so much!
Here’s why.
For starters, Kimberly King—aka @toughtopicsmom—posesses a beautiful “why” for writing this terrific child safety book. Her son almost fell prey to an abuse situation. A child-on-child abuse situation. It is so important to have books in the world written on the topic of child-on-child sexual abuse because currently, in 70% of child abuse incidents, the “offender” is another child! An individual under the age of 18.
"I Said No" is not just a good story. Though it is that. "I Said No" is also a book with benefits. The story is one component. And really terrific resources are the other component.
The simple but beautiful artwork makes the book super child-friendly. I love that “red flags”—artistically rendered—are featured throughout the book. Red flags are the quintessential warning signs of our culture! We adults know it, and I think it’s an important “symbol” to pass down to our kids.
But King also introduces the idea of “green flags” to indicate situations that are appropriate. She uses both color flags—green and red—to visually communicate to kids things that are safe or unsafe. I love the “sailor motif” that the artist applied.
"I Said No" teaches so many important concepts: what privates are, what is consent, who can touch a child safely. King also identifies how a child might feel in a situation where they are at-risk: upset, uncomfortable, scared, lonely. etc..
Another strategy King—a kindergarten teacher—utilizes is teaching kids a format for action. She shows a number of situations and what a child might THINK, SAY, and DO in each circumstance.
Finally, you get to Zach’s story: his unfortunate experience at a friend’s house during a sleepover. Because Zach recognizes red flags and has been taught to process situations in terms of THINK, SAY, and DO, his fantastic problem-solving skills save the day. I literally cheered at the end of the book. This is a real live child applying great strategies to keep himself safe.
Props to King for including a work-page in the back of the book where children can make a list of safe adults. This is one of the top child safety strategies I hear in the industry today.
King also mentions the possibility of family members being unsafe. This is a critical addition to the book. The excellent child safety organization, Darkness to Light, reports that at least 30% of children are abused by immediate or extended family members.
If there are kids in your life that you love, I recommend you buy this book for them and read it with them at least once a year. These ideas need to be reinforced regularly as we do with: “Look both ways before you cross the street,” and, “If your clothes catch on fire, stop, drop, and roll.”
Well done, Kimberly King, well done!
P.S. I am a survivor of child sexual abuse. And a body safety educator in public schools. And a child safety educator out in the world. Plus the author of the child safety book, "The Brave Knight." All to say, I think my opinion on "I Said No" is valuable.
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Customer Review: VIDEO: Zack and his mom tell their story.
Sue Ramá
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Customer Review: Great for teaching body safety
Ben and Liz Brewer
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Author UPDATE 2020 Edition! Updated, edited, and So MUCH BETTER!!
The New Edition!!2020Completely updated and edits complete!We took all of our reviews, both positive and negative to create an empowering tool for families!What the experts are saying about this new edition!“𝐖𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐒𝐄𝐗 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝗼𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝗼𝗺𝐟𝗼𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝗼 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝗼𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝗼𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥!𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝗼𝗼𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝗼 𝗼𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝗺𝐩𝗼𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝗼𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞...👉𝐁𝗼𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝗺𝐞𝐬👉𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬👉𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬👉𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬👉𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝗺𝗼𝐫𝐞. 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝗼𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝗼𝐚𝐝 𝗺𝐚𝐩 𝐟𝗼𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝗼𝗺𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝗼𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝗼𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬! 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝗺𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝗼𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝗼𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝗼𝐮𝐭 𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝗼𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.𝐀𝐫𝗺 𝐲𝗼𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝗼𝗺𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝗼𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝗼 𝐝𝗼 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝗺𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 "𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠" 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝗼𝐧. “Family Crisis Center
Top reviews from other countries
Manon
Great book - highly recommended, very important read!
Reviewed in Germany on April 16, 2021