I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

A good read aloud for young children. Helpful for beginning hard discussions. Good pictures and easy to read rhyming phrases.

It stinks we live in a world this needs to be taught but this book is a great way to talk to your kids about intuition and stranger danger in a not scary way.

The illustrations go between colorful drawing to a pencil like sketch. The illustrations themselves are great. I just wasn’t a fan of the duality.

A mother sends her daughter out into the world with a letter, explaining how to react if their instincts make them feel that a situation isn’t safe.

I was given a review copy of this book, and the book was a VERY rough draft. Half the pages were still in sketch form, limiting what I could see of the artistic styling. What are I did see was in an oil pastel style, and the characters portrayed emotions quite well.

The book ends with some some guides for school counselors and parents. For the counselors, the ways this book fulfils specific sections of the International Model for School Counseling Programs are outlined, making this a very simple to utilize for already overworked counselors. For parents, advice is given on how to engage with your children and coach them through safety lessons.

Overall, I’d say this wouldn’t be my FIRST pick on the subject of safety, consent, and boundaries, but it’s a good part of a collection. A library pick-up, I’d say.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own

Wonderful story about boundaries and trusting your body signals when they tell you something isn't right.

I greatly enjoyed the Tips for parents at the end. I was a child that wanted to protect my parents and held a lot in. Letting a child know you can handle what they tell you is important for them.

Yesterday's reviewing gave a love letter from a doting mother to a child, spreading love for the wonders to come in the younger character's future (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264990645). This time round it's a letter from a doting mother to a child, spreading fear, doubt, insecurity, loathing, dread, panic and everything else disreputable. This wants to cover stranger danger, the right response in a situation where the child feels uncomfortable, and how there is always going to be someone safe enough to look after the young 'un, but it's just so pessimistic about the world I know which one of the two books I'd feel happier to share. For all the realism there may be on these pages, and for all it pulls back from the nightmares of the outside world to show the kid happy, content and enjoying a safe life, this is just brow-beating. The only way to bring up a dog-fearing child is to allege all mutts will do nothing but rip your throat out, and this is only an extrapolation of that.

This is an excellent book to read to children to help them understand what it means to stay safe in a world which isn’t always good. Without scaring the child, a parent can use this book to communicate how much they love their child and want to protect them from harm. I especially like the part which assures the child they can tell their parents anything and not lose parental love and protection.

This was a gentle book to teach kids to listen to their gut and keep themselves safe as they begin to venture out into the world on their own. It provides lots of loving support and advice as well as reassurance. There is nothing that would scare children that I can see, so I think parents can pick up this book with confidence. It’s a nice way to start a conversation and let your kids know you are a safe person to bring any questions or concerns. I think With This Note is a helpful resource for caring parents anywhere. The pictures were pretty and clear for young children to understand. They had lots of texture.
Thank you for the eARC, I enjoyed it very much.

While you shine, my strong child,
And show the world your light,
Remember to stay safe
If it doesn’t feel quite right

This is an amazing work on personal safety of a girl child, which meant a lot for herself and her parents at most. While raising a girl it is very important to keep her safe all the time and make her aware on the behaviour of any person towards her. She need to be told about the right touch and bad touch. She need to make understand that she can talk on any and every such issue to her parents, caregivers, educators, counselors and trusted adults everywhere, to report the mis-happening with her, be it in deportment or conversation.

Every unsafe and uncomfortable situations with trusted persons or strangers should be taken care-off and handled with utmost urgency without failure.

As a school counsellor herself author Annalice made sure she do not just speculate but with factual theory put forth the social behaviour, which need for girls to observe and react accordingly from their very young age.

In many unreported cases, via survey, this came out as a result that most of the sexual harassment (81%) of the females, irrespective of age, happen in extended or immediate circle of a victim by a known perpetrator; as mention in words in this self-help guide-book :-

If you feel uncomfortable,
Or things don’t feel quite right,
There is no need for manners—
You don’t have to be polite!

In addition, I believe and recommend that this book and every such book with progressive details on the subject must be added to the school curriculum from KG to middle-grade. Not only girls to be made aware but even male children also need to be teach for how to behave towards their female counter-parts, as our main concern/motive is to bring out better society through right learning of each human since very young age.

Overall, this is a very good behavioural book on the safety of a girl.

This book pertains to safety and consent by teaching children to trust their instincts when a situation does not feel right, and gives permission to not be polite if they feel that way. I would prefer a bit more depth on the issue, though this does a good job at least starting a very important conversation, which may be the intent. The book includes notes for school counselors and parents/caregivers advising them how to use this as a tool and how to talk about this important issue with children.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Start Books for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Our child are not always the child. They grow up, the explore and they learn something about life. Parents should noted this and tell them to always remember when they are going out. Always find and adult to guide them especially parents when they are feel uncomfortable or confuse what they are feel.

A must read book to keep in your bookshelve. A good book to make a reference and read aloud with your kids.

Thank you Little Start Books for accepting my request to read and review With This Note on NetGalley.

Genre: Children's Nonfiction | Parenting & Families

Stars: 2

Miss for me. The cover is eye-catching; however, that is where it stopped for me. The story is long, and I stumbled over some of the words, about 40-50%. I wasn't looking for a rhyme but a rhythm.

Unfortunately, the illustrations didn't work either.

The author has exercises at the conclusion -- I find them to be confusing.

Love this book for school counselors, teachers and parents to use with their children. A great children’s book about parenting.

This is a good book for kids to discuss and learn the boundaries of consent. It also would give the message of I will be there for you to teens from the important person in their life.

This book has sweet illustrations and simple rhyming text, and it's written from the perspective of a parent encouraging their child to stay safe. The book highlights bodily autonomy, the importance of following your gut feelings, and the value of telling adults whenever something doesn't feel right.

I appreciate how the author introduces essential topics without making them too scary, but I would have liked a little more depth here, because there isn't enough to differentiate something dangerous from something that a shy or anxious child simply doesn't feel good about. With my anxiety, if I had always followed my gut feelings about what felt comfortable, I would never have done much of anything and would have missed out on a lot of life.

I also feel like a child could take a confused message for this, thinking that it's their fault for not staying safe if something bad happens to them. Of course, the book never implies any victim-blaming! But without additional guidance from other conversations or other resources, this can make it sound like it's the child's job to keep themselves safe and determine whether something is good for them or not. If something bad happens out of nowhere, or if a child is incapable of recognizing warning signs, they could feel unnecessary guilt for not keeping themselves safe. This book is definitely helpful and worthwhile, but I'd encourage parents and teachers to keep these weaknesses in mind and compensate for them.

I liked the message of this book. It is counterculture to say to children, trust your gut, and it is okay to walk away/not always have to be polite. I also like the mixed-racial family as a visual. It is a book I plan on purchasing and using in the classroom (K-2) and with my children.

The only thing I would change is the title. 'With This Note' is confusing as it doesn't explain what this book is about. I'd suggest a title that is more descriptive of the story's point.

ARC reader for NetGalley

A great way to teach your little about body autonomy and how to trust their gut feelings when they feel something is wrong. This book will help you convey the message in a way your little can understand through a lyrical, rhyming narrative and pictures. A great must read and parenting tool.

This book kids teaching on what to do if they feel uncomfortable in interactions, especially with people outside of their home. They can always come to trusted adults, even if something seems silly or weird. It is a great conversational tool to use with kids to prevent abuse.

I cannot give it higher stars because the book has several pages that are black and white. I am not sure if this is an issue with the digital copy or an intentional choice. Either way, it was quite jarring to read and it happened several times. I would be glad to raise my review if this was just a digital copy error.

Edit: I was informed that the black and white pages will be full color when published. So I am happy to raise my review from 3 to 4 stars!

Children should not be forced to endure well meant or predatory contact if they do not wish to be touched. In order to feel confident in deciding this for themselves, children need to be encouraged to differentiate between the emotions they feel in this regard.

They must also feel that they have the agency to make such decisions for themselves. This is a user friendly and very useful little book to help children understand their own bodies better and learn how to keep themselves safe.

The illustrations are nicely done, and the tone of the book is warm and encouraging. I particularly liked the reference to a body "alarm" and the importance of paying it heed. This is a good resource for adults to address this entire set of interrelated issues with children.

A must keep and a must read aloud for all the counsellors, teachers, parents and caregivers. This is the need of the moment. It’s never too early or never too late to teach a child to ask for help from a trusted adult and shout for help whenever they do not feel comfortable considering both their minds and body. The words are so powerful and specifically chosen which will help us adults on how to communicate with the kids on how to educate about likely abuse/inappropriate behaviour from known and unknown people.

I repeat this book is a must read.

Thank you, Little Start Books, for the precious advance reading copy.