My Body! What I Say Goes!: A book to empower and teach children about personal body safety, feelings, safe and unsafe touch, private parts, secrets and surprises, consent, and respectful relationships

The crucial skills taught in this book will help children to protect their bodies from inappropriate touch. Children will be empowered to say in a strong and clear voice, “This is my body! What I say goes!” Through age-appropriate illustrations and engaging text this book, written by the author of ‘No Means No!’ and ‘Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept’, will teach children the following crucial and empowering skills in personal body safety: • identifying safe and unsafe feelings • recognizing early warning signs • developing a safety network • using the correct names for private parts • understanding the difference safe and unsafe touch • understanding the difference between secrets and surprises • respecting body boundaries. Approximately 20% of girls, and 8% of boys will experience sexual abuse before their 18th birthday (Pereda, et al, 2009). Parents, caregivers, and educators have a duty of care to protect children by teaching them Body Safety skills. These skills empower children, and go a long way in keeping them safe from abuse – ensuring they grow up as assertive and confident teenagers and adults. Also included in this book are in-depth Discussion Questions to further enhance the learning and to initiate important family conversations around body autonomy.