We Ask Permission - (We Say What's Okay) by Lydia Bowers (Hardcover)

About the Book

A story that helps with teaching boundaries.

Book Synopsis

A story that helps with teaching boundaries.

Asking for permission is a key foundation of consent. We Ask Permission builds children's social and emotional skills and helps with teaching boundaries by encouraging children to look for body language cues and by asking before hugging or touching others.

The third book in the We Say What's Okay series, We Ask Permission follows Jovan as he learns to ask permission and become a body language detective. Using the book as a read-aloud, educators and families can model the language Jovan's teachers use to support children as they learn to look for body language cues and respect the personal boundaries of others. The author, who hosts workshops and trainings on teaching boundaries and consent for families and early childhood educators around the country, offers additional activities in the back of the book.

Digital content includes a song from Peaceful Schools with downloadable audio files and sheet music.

We Say What's Okay Series
Centered on a class of preschoolers, the We Say What's Okay series helps teach young children the social and emotional skills they need to understand the complexities of consent. Each book covers a consent theme, such as how to recognize the physical sensations that emotions create, look for body language cues, ask for and listen to choices, and know that our bodies have value. With believable, everyday situations and diverse characters, children can see themselves and others reflected in each story--and develop a vocabulary to communicate consent and feelings. Every book in the series is accompanied by a song from Peaceful Schools with downloadable audio files and sheet music.

Review Quotes

"This title covers an important social skill that is often difficult for children to learn. The classroom and the activities that students are engaged in are authentically appropriate for early primary grades and will resonate with young readers."-- "School Library Journal"

"Highly recommended."

"We Ask Permission is more than a fun story for children and their teachers. This story is part of a movement to re-humanize our work with young children. Lydia Bowers tells a story that centers the ideas of consent, inclusion, equity, and childhood for all of us. Here's to a new generation of Body Language Detectives!"--Heather Bernt-Santy, M.A.Ed., speaker, consultant, and podcaster, That Early Childhood Nerd

About the Author

Lydia Bowers is a speaker, consultant, and trainer who happily exists in the Venn diagram overlap between early childhood and sex education.

After spending almost two decades working directly with children as a classroom teacher and a parent, she is passionate about reframing sexuality conversations. Lydia now teaches families and educators how to talk to children about subjects like gender, reproduction, and abuse. When she's not traveling around the country for conferences and speaking engagements, she lives in Cincinnati with her husband and two children and adds to her growing collection of children's book character tattoos as often as she can.

Follow her on TikTok @lydiatalksconsent.

Isabel Muñoz's dream was to paint for a living, and now she's proud to be the illustrator of several children's books.

She works from a tiny and colorful studio in the north of Spain.