I love that adults are gradually becoming more accepting of a child's rights to bodily autonomy, since previous generations of children often didn't have those rights acknowledged, let alone respected.
"Please Don't Give Me a Hug!" is a simple yet effective picture book about alternative ways to greet and show affection to a child who does not like bear hugs. ~ Thanks to NetGalley and Star Bright Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review ~ While the fact that it does rely on adults and children reading together won't work for all readers or situations, this is an important step in banishing antiquated notions of politeness that don't allow for children to express emotional discomfort. Again, this is a good conversation starter, as parents can ask direct questions or children can say, "I don't like it when Ms._ hugs me." Another nice touch is the way that we see children's families respecting what they are and are not comfortable with it's only non-family adults who seem to be overstepping boundaries. The illustrations are bright and clear, with no obviously gendered children.
It's a good jumping-off point for children to say what they do and don't feel comfortable with. Please Don't Give Me a Hugis fairly understated, but it absolutely makes its point, and the lack of over-writing means that parents and children (or teachers and students) can discuss what it means for specific kids. For many of us raised that it was not "polite" to tell an adult that we didn't want to be hugged or kissed, there was a real need for a book to tell us that our feelings weren't "impolite," but valid expressions of body autonomy. One of the approaches we take in my creative writing class about writing for children is to look at the books we needed to read when we were little.
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