Challenging the idea that trauma only occurs during more "serious" incidents, The Joy Thief! leads us to conclude that such occurrences, or rather our responses to them, may be more significant for children's mental health than we would perhaps like to admit.
The story of The Joy Thief! encourages help-seeking, while challenging adults to consider the way they handle such situations.
The story is written in a person-centred fashion, seeking to normalize a range of outcomes that children may experience following a traumatic experience - including the little-acknowledged phenomena of imaginary "friends."
Whilst highlighting positive themes of intersectional diversity, The Joy Thief! also challenges us to consider issues of parental absence, inattention, and invalidation within the context of the needs of children.
Above all, The Joy Thief! is a story of hope.
"This book demonstrates beautifully a gentle reminder to parents about the way that children can perceive the world and then models to children how talking about difficult things helps. Supporting better mental health and wellbeing for children is invariably about how the adults around the child respond to what is so often in front of our noses, yet we fail to always see." -- Lisa Cherry, schools, services & systems consultant, and author on trauma-informed & relationship focused practice (Twitter: @_LisaCherry)
"The Joy Thief! is a joy to read and is a beautifully illustrated book with inviting and fun colours. The language is simple, using the idea of rhymes to communicate the powerful and crucial message of children sharing their fears and worries with a trusted grown up, so they can get rid of their Joy Thief and be happy. Learning to share our innermost anxieties and not hold onto trauma is an essential lesson that we need to teach at an increasingly early age." -- Deborah Somerset, safeguarding trainer and trauma-informed consultant. (Twitter: @DLSSafeguarding)
"Sean McCallum has written a lovely book with vivid colors, rhyming text and a message. He describes how the unexpected appearance of spider frightens a young girl and the subsequent distress that builds up with repeated suppression of the memory. With psychological underpinnings, this book explores the impact of keeping upsetting thoughts pent up as well as the benefit of being able to share them with someone you trust. Highly recommended." --Laurie Zelinger, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S, Board Certified Psychologist, author of Please Explain Anxiety to Me and Please Explain Alzheimer's to Me
From Loving Healing Press www.LHPress.com
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Enjoy these excerpts!
Guest book review by Carly Louise Wilson
The Joy Thief is a beautifully illustrated children’s book by Sean McCallum. It is suitable for all ages, and is an ideal book to assist parents in helping to demonstrate and understand traumatic experiences. The child in the story experiences something traumatic to them which could become a lifelong fear, and how the parent reacts is dismissive and unphased, which can later impact the child in future events and in being able to communicate any other traumatic experiences.
I love books such as these as they are a great go-to reference for adults/parents and carers on how to help/assist and deal with child trauma, but it is also a good way to educate children on those who have had differing experiences to them.
The use of rhyme helps deliver the story in a fun and captivating way, and all illustrations are colourful to draw you in.
I would recommend to all parents and children. It is a good ‘how not to react’ scenario.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
About the Author
A Firefighter within the U.K. Fire & Rescue Service, Sean is also an Infantry Veteran of the Iraq War of 2003. A specialist in crisis intervention, Sean developed the ‘CRISIS Schema®’ – an evolutionary model of psychological first aid, now in use by practitioners across 4 of the world’s continents. Sean is also a director of Eudemonics CIC, a non-profit agency helping people and organisations to recover from psychological trauma. Coordinating community programmes supporting military veterans, victims of domestic abuse, and people enduring addiction, Sean lives in Nottinghamshire, England, with his partner Caron and their daughters Morgan and Isla.
You can also follow the author here...
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