At What Age Does My Body Belong To Me

This is a story of my death by the hands of society but it's also the story of my rebirth. Speaking out in both pain and healing. The pain of rape, abuse, silence, suicide and mental health. How I found myself caged in a psych ward, afraid of what my sexuality meant. This is the story of how we became who we are and ultimately how I found the courage to speak out. This is my story but it's also the story of so many others who came before me and it's a symbol to say that we are no longer afraid.

Without being taught about body boundaries, a child may be too young to understand when abuse is happening—or that it’s wrong. This straightforward, gentle book offers a tool parents, teachers, and counselors can use to help children feel, be, and stay safe. The rhyming story and simple, friendly illustrations provide a way to sensitively share and discuss the topic, guiding young children to understand that their private parts belong to them alone. The overriding message of My Body Belongs to Me is that if someone touches your private parts, tell your mom, your dad, your teacher, or another safe adult.

Now every parent, grandparent, or teacher can explain to a child the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching in a way that young boys and girls can understand. As a child, there are constantly people trying to pick you up, hug you, or tickle you. Sometimes, though, children fall victims to people who try to touch them inappropriately. But how do you tell someone, most likely an adult, that you don’t want to be touched? Or, if it has already happened, how do you tell an adult you trust about what happened? You’re only a child, and they’re the adults. Why would they believe you? My Body Belongs to Me from My Head to My Toes is an educational tool to help instill confidence in children when it comes to their bodies. The narrative of the story is led by a girl named Clara, who encourages kids to say “no” if they are uncomfortable with physical contact. The narrator gives readers tips about what they can say or do to avoid unwanted physical contact, or how to tell the right people in the event it has already occurred. My Body Belongs to Me from My Head to My Toes is an invaluable resource that gives children a voice in uncomfortable situations.

"This book is positive and assertive without being frightening. It lets young children know that it's all right for them to choose when, and by whom, they are to be touched."--"School Library Journal." Full color.

"My Body, My Home is a guide, a meditation, a tender opportunity, and a journey back home to yourself. It's an invitation to rewrite the stories of your body, explore embodied ways of being, and uncover how deeply you belong to yourself, others, and the universe. May this book be a refuge to marvel at the nuance and complexity that makes you remarkably human."--Back cover.

My Body Belongs to Me teaches children body boundaries, instills early awareness and empowerment, and seeks to prevent child physical/sexual abuse. Using easy to understand language and pictures to help relay a fundamentally important message to even the youngest reader. Principles of early psychology and child development are woven throughout this text to safely begin this important conversation, creating a fun but richly powerful experience, and holding space for you to continue integrating healthy body boundaries in your child's life. My Body Belongs to Me is part of a new generation of children's literature aimed to raise children who do not need to recover from their childhood. Prevention begins with awareness and empowerment, it begins at home with you. Recommended for ages 3-4 and up.

Your body is amazing! It can move, grow and heal as well as help you think, read and talk. Look after your brilliant body, from eating well to exercising and keeping clean. Respect your body and make sure others respect it too. If you don't want a hug or a kiss from friends or family, it's okay to say no. Your body belongs to you! Take care of your body and it will take care of you.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.