Books for Children and Parents

For Parents

Sex Wise Parent by Dr. Janet Rosenzweig shows you how you can help protect children and youth from sexual abuse, trauma, and bullying through your everyday interaction with them.

For Parents and Kids

Amazing You by Gail Saltz is a picture book designed for young kids who are starting to learn about their bodies and provides clear messages about sex and reproduction.

Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept by Debra Byrne was written as a tool for parents to speak to their kids staying safe and speaking up.

My Body! What I Say Goes by Jayneen Sanders is tool for children to learn about their private parts, safety, and consent.

The Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson is a fun, illustrated book that focuses on ALL parts of the body, from your head to toes.

What’s Happening to Me? by Dr. Gail Saltz is a kid and parent friendly book that addresses kids curiosity with puberty, sex, and reproduction.

For Parents and Teens

Girl’s Guide to Becoming a Teen and the Boy’s Guide to Becoming a Teen by the American Medical Association provide teens with clear and accurate information about the changes teens can expect when entering puberty.

The Little Black Book for Guys and Little Black Book for Girlz from St. Stephen’s Community House are books created for youth by youth about the realities of youth culture, sex, and relationships.

You can access most of these books and more through the Courage Collection at no cost through the Hamilton Public Library.

The Courage Collection

The Courage Collection is a specialized collection of resource materials that includes reference books, storybooks, videos, manuals, audiotapes, self-help tools and other educational materials dealing with matters such as childhood traumas, recovery and healing issues, and adult survivor topics. This collection came about with the partnership of Thrive Child and Youth Trauma Services and the Hamilton Public Library in 2002 and is currently housed at the Kenilworth Library.

All items in this collection can be accessed at no cost with your hamilton public library card. Library patrons can request materials and have them delivered to any of the 25 Hamilton Public Library branches or the local Bookmobile stop. Also, with the Hamilton Public Library’s policy of reciprocal borrowing rights, residents of Burlington, Grimsby, Milton, and Cambridge and a number of other cities can also borrow materials from the Courage Collection.

This collection was made possible through a private family donation, followed by funding through the Trillium Grant, Hamilton Community Foundation, Edith H. Turner Fund, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Princess Margaret Rose Chapter of the IODE, Child and Adolescent Services, along with a number of publishing companies such as Penguin and Scholastic.

Looking to donate to the Courage Collection? Check out Thrive Child and Youth Trauma Services for more details.