Have you ever been bullied? Were you bullied or teased as a child? Bullying can happen to anyone. And it's insidious - especially when it happens to young children. Whether on-line or at schools, at work or at home, most people agree that bullying needs to be better addressed. We need better intervention, we need better ways of dealing with the bullies, and most of all we need to get much better at helping the children who are bullied and victimized to recognize and handle themselves and their responses before it overpowers them, and their lives.
For many years I counseled kids who were being teased or bullied, whose self-image was compromised. Helping them find their own inner strength and the power of their imaginations to cope, eventually building the self-confidence to become truly empowered, was my greatest joy!
One of the many tools that helped was a professional interactive book, written for counselors. Where, I wondered, was such a book for parents to use with their kids at home – a book that can teach the skills of imagination and self-empowerment and is written (in accessible language) from the perspective of a child? Predictably (:-) dissatisfied with the offerings that exist, but hugely inspired by the many children I have had the privilege of knowing and working with, I wrote my own kids self-help book, MATTY MAKES CHOICES – an interactive, illustrated book to help kids respond to bullies, and to feelings of rejection, loneliness, anxiety and helplessness, with resilience, competence and confidence!
Tammy Day has done me the honor of illustrating it with delightful, whimsical drawings. MATTY MAKES CHOICES is now finally published and available on Kindle! (Can you tell I’m excited?) I hope this small book will contribute to the growing movement against bullying and be a helpful resource for kids and the adults in their lives.
Please click here to check it out and pass it on to anyone you know with young kids. It could be a perfect gift for the Holiday Season!
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