Teach Your Kids About Consent Part 2: Books to Read For All Ages

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Since last week we spent a lot of time on one book that doesn’t offer a good example of consent for kids, this time we’ll offer up suggestions for quality reading to introduce the conversation.

The conversation around consent can start at a very early age. Will you make your kids hug or kiss every relative, regardless if they want to or not? Are you prioritizing your child’s feelings or your uncle’s, and why?

To help a child understand boundaries and consent, you must first introduce them to their body. We found several great books that are fun to read for kids starting as early as three.

The Usborne Big Book of the Body

By Minna Lacey

Open up the huge fold-out pages of this vividly illustrated book to discover the remarkable ways the human body works. Explore a giant skeleton, learn how your heart pumps blood, find out what's inside your head, and see what happens to the food you eat. A fun and engaging introduction to the workings of the body.

It's NOT the Stork! A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families, and Friends

by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley

This is the book I mentioned in the September issue of beijingkids West Meets East, and we've used it more than half our kids' lives, reading a page or two at a time to show them very plainly how the body works. Dumb title but great content.

Young children are curious about almost everything, especially their bodies. And young children are not afraid to ask questions. What makes me a girl? What makes me a boy? Why are some parts of girls' and boys' bodies the same and why are some parts different? How was I made? Where do babies come from? Is it true that a stork brings babies to mommies and daddies?

It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families

by Robie H. Harries and Michael Emberley

How does a baby begin? What makes a baby male or female? How is a baby born? Children have plenty of questions about reproduction and babies - and about sex and sexuality, too. It's So Amazing! provides the answers - with fun, accurate, comic-book-style artwork and a clear, lively text that reflects the interests of children ages seven and up in how things work, while giving them a healthy understanding of their bodies.

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Let's Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent & Respect

by Jayneen Sanders, illustrated by Sarah Jennings

Teaching young children about body boundaries, both theirs and others, is crucial to a child's growing sense of self, their confidence, and how they should expect to be treated by others. A child growing up knowing they have a right to their own personal space gives that child ownership and choices as to what happens to them and to their body. It is equally important a child understands, from a very young age, that they need to respect another person's body boundary and ask for their consent when entering their personal space. This book explores these concepts with children in a child-friendly and easily-understood manner, providing familiar scenarios for children to engage with and discuss. It is important that the reader and the child take the time required to unpack each scenario and explore what they mean both to the character in the book, who may not be respecting someone's body boundary, and to the character who is being disrespected. It is through these vital discussions that children will learn the meaning of body boundaries, consent, and respect. Learning these key social skills through such stories as Let's Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent and Respect' and role-modeling by significant adults can, importantly, carry forward into a child's teenage years and adult life.

My Body! What I Say Goes!

by Jayneen Sanders, illustrated by Anna Hancock

A book to empower and teach children about personal body safety, feelings, personal boundaries, 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 will teach children crucial and empowering skills in personal body safety, including identifying safe and unsafe feelings, recognizing early warning signs, using the correct names for private parts, understanding the difference between secrets and surprises, respecting body boundaries, and building a safety network.

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Photos and descriptions: Courtesy of publishers

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