My Body is Special and Private

As a pediatric registered nurse, and a sexual assault nurse examiner. I work primarily with children, who have a wide range of abilities, both cognitively and physically. I recommend this book to anyone who has children in their lives. I personally love using this book for story time, it is an excellent resource for teaching and for discussing body safety, anatomical terms, acceptable behaviors, how to ask for help when help is needed. As a survivor, I really love and appreciate the fact that the book gently reinforces the point that it is never a child’s responsibility to protect themself. This fact takes so much of the self blame/ shame off of a survivors shoulders, it was never meant to be their burden to carry. The illustrations are perfectly balanced, with a multi-cultural, diverse group of children, delivered in a warm, caring and straightforward way. The layout is easy to read, simple and to the point. My 6 and 7 year old niece and nephew read this book to their younger siblings, which often leads to a body safety, and autonomy discussion. I get feedback about how my niece and nephew are advocating for other children at school, church and on the playground. They use their voices to speak up when they see inappropriate behaviors or when unjust treatment/ behaviors are occurring. They teach other children to speak up too. It’s an awesome ripple effect in action. I highly recommend this organization, and use all of The Mama Bear Effect’s educational resources, teaching tools and materials, magnets. We always partake in child abuse prevention and awareness month, pinwheel gardens and tie one to end child abuse campaigns. This is my go to site/ group and I refer all my Patient families and children and parents I come in contact with to this site. Excellent team who are like minded, involved in their community and interact with other organizations thought the country, supporting survivors and their families, with grace, kindness and a sincerely caring, concerned demeanor. I have been following and contributing to this cause for several years, and the level of dedication is outstanding and always consistent. What an amazing, resource rich organization. Thank you for all that you and your organization do for all children, survivors and their families. #BraveWarriorSnow

Daughter enjoys reading it again and again. Feels like an appropriate way to begin to teach privacy. Some of the lines were written in a way that was a bit difficult for her to understand though (just for the sake of rhyming)

This book is phenomenal! I got it to support my 4 going on 5 year old and understanding her body and safety.She has asked to read it more than once and really listens when we read it. She’s received it in a very positive way and I recommend this book for anyone wanting something simpler to explain body safety.

I like the simplicity of this book. It is short and sweet. It gets to the point and allows the parental figure to have a good talk to their kids about body safety. It is also easy to remember. That makes it valuable for referencing. The pictures are well done as well

I bought this book for my 2 year old and so far it’s been really helpful in getting her to understand about what is appropriate with her body. I expect there will be more questions and conversations as she gets older, and is able to comprehend more, but this book is a great starting point.

My daughter loves her book, constantly has me read it to her. I know she doesn't fully understand this, but in time she will. But I'm glad I'm starting her early on this. Anything can happen these days, and I'm thankful there are books to show and help all parents about this, so we can help their brains obsorb the do nots for their safety. Thank you.

The book is a good jumping off point for discussion. I dislike that it is written in rhyme - it feels forced in some places, and the sentence structure is harder for my three year old to understand. For example, “Boys have underwear and swim trunks to cover their penis, scrotum, and their bum, wearing one or the other as a rule of thumb.”

I have seen other commenters give books a 1 star rating for giving the proper terminology of body parts, but when you’re in court etc. trying to prove child abuse. Let me tell you people are much more likely to believe the proper terminology over made up words you can’t prove the definition of. Great book short simple lines with nice pictures. Love it!