10 May 2006
A non-profit making organisation based in the UK dedicated to provide help, support and information to any adult who is suffering from past childhood abuse.
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10 May 2006 |
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Help for Adult Victims Of Child Abuse. A non-profit making organisation based in the UK dedicated to provide help, support and information to any adult who is suffering from past childhood abuse. |
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23 of 23 people found the following review
helpful:
Well done-Wise Parental Instrument!, June 27, 2000
Reviewer: Bernadette
Moyer Sahm (see more about me) from Lutherville, Maryland USA
The best source I have seen to date for very young children on the subject of
sexual abuse. Such a tough subject and very well written and illustrated.
Every parent should be pro-active and discuss abuse, this title is sure to open the door to communication. It also does so in a child friendly manner and does not shock or upset even the most conservative reader.
An invaluable and excellent tool for any adult to
help educate and arm young innocent children. Perfect addition for any library.
21 of 21 people found the following review
helpful:
Love means telling the truth., November 3, 1999
Reviewer: Pat (eggsspam@aol.com) from Texas, USA
The only reason to give this little book 5 stars is the lack of a 6 star
category. My own children are grown now, but this is a book we will share with
future grandchildren. My children were educated about "right and wrong
touches" at home, in school, and at church. Thankfully they were spared
such an experience, I was not. As a survivor of childhood molestation who told
no one for nearly 20 years, I felt all the responsibilty for the abuse, and the
total inability to tell a parent, teacher, or friend. Some of the scare are with
me still, but Sandy's book empowers child and parent alike. The language,
illustrations, and approach are frank but gentle. Presentation is sensitive to
very young children, and different terms for body parts. The read-aloud thrust
strengthens parent-child interaction about this vital topic. Best of all, the
refences for further reading and help organizations provides the tools to go
further in education, or to obtain assistance if the worst case has occurred.
Actually the worst of all cases is to have abuse, and no one to tell. Bless you
Sandy, keep books like these coming!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
A valuable and timely book for children and parents, November 12, 1998
Reviewer: Susan Palwick (palwick@unr.edu) from Reno, Nevada
The Right Touch is a beautiful, sensitive, and invaluable book about safety and
boundaries. The story gives parents a loving and gentle way to encourage
discussion of a difficult issue. By teaching children to trust their instincts,
it will empower them to protect themselves from unwanted intrusion; and because
the book reminds us that children do in fact have trustworthy instincts, it may
help relieve a great deal of parental anxiety, as well.
26 of 26 people found the following review
helpful:
A lovely, warm, wise treatment of a very difficult topic., June 27, 1998
Reviewer: Ken from Canada
The book is a wee bit bigger than 8 1/2 by 11, a very good size for reading to a
child. It is gorgeously and warmly illustrated by Jody Bergsma, a woman of great
talent and much understanding of the child's eye.
This is a book for helping to prevent child sexual abuse. Sandy is an expert in this problem, and has done much work to help put an end to it. In this book she has done a very great service to a (hopefully) much wider audience.
There is a "note to parents and teachers" at the beginning of the book, which discusses the question of child sexual abuse in a succinct, knowing, and helpful manner, better than I've ever seen it dealt with.
Then the story. I really like the way that Sandy has chosen to present this difficult topic. The book describes a conversation between a loving mother and her son Jimmy, in which she gently and carefully raises the topic of "touching problems" and goes on from there. This must be a godsend for parents who might have difficulty in starting a conversation about something so intimate. They can "break the ice" by reading this book to their child, and then perhaps repeat the conversation with their own child for real. The converstion between Jimmy and his mother covers just about everything that a small child needs to know, in a very subtle, gentle, and wise way. Like when intimate touching is OK (doctor, diaper changing, parental tending to hurts, etc.). Like how to say NO to somebody. Like how sexual touching is really not that much different from bullying and playing tricks: it's bad, it's not your fault, and grownups can help you stop it.
There is great wisdom in this book. I see it especially in what Sandy has chosen to leave out. There are no graphic details, just phrases such as "touching you under your clothes". There is no need for more, since if things have gone that far they are already very wrong, and that's all that a small child has to know. There is no naming of body parts. There *is* a picture of ! a girl's body and a boy's body, but Sandy chose to leave out the labels and let parents choose the words that they are comfortable with.
I won't go much further in describing this book -
you all should order it and see for yourself - but I will give one last word of
praise for Jody Bergsma's illustration on the back cover: it's called
"Garden of Children" and depicts children and animals expressing
various emotions, in a big beautiful collage of faces. It's apparently used much
by counsellors in helping very young people identify their feelings. My two
young readers commented the most about that illustration. It's available as a
poster, too, but I won't tell you how to order it. You have to buy Sandy's book
to find out.
