Speak Up and Get Along!: Learn the Mighty Might, Thought Chop, and More Tools to Make Friends, Stop Teasing, and Feel Good about Yourself

Purchased for an 11 y.o. girl at Christmas \who's been having trouble standing up for herself in social situations. She read it cover-to-cover the next day and has had the guts to tell off 2 peers giving her trouble since. Now her uncle (41) wants to read it!

I've used "Speak Up and Get Along" as an in-class textbook for my Karate students, both children and adults, with great success. The simple lessons and role-play exercises are easy to understand, and simple to use, even with children who are just starting to read. The organization of the book, using various types of birds as images to illustrate an entire suite of social skills, is very helpful as well -- the tools of the Blue Jay are all about being assertive when you need to. I've recommended this book to a number of my professional colleagues, many of whom are using it with their students (and children) as well. A useful companion volume is "Sticks and Stones", also by Scott Cooper. It shares the same basic structure, with additional explanations, scripts for parents/teachers, and additional role-plays. A word about the role-plays: be prepared to practice with them several times to really internalize the skills involved. Running through them once or twice and then just moving on to the next thing is won't get you very far in acquiring usable skills from the text. Practice with them over and over, just as you would to learn a new martial arts technique. Don't confuse understanding the various tools here with the ability to actually use them -- that takes dedicated practice.

I'm impressed at the tools available in this book. It is very well-written and put together in an easy format. It has boosted my kids' (age 9) self confidence. I love how the author covers tone of voice and body language as well as verbal tools. Great book!

I agree with Dr. Ross's editorial review that "everything about this book is perfect for children." Speak Up and Get Along is a great resource to help kids survive and succeed especially in their social worlds at school. It is clear and easy for them to read. The best thing about it is that there are a lot examples of how to actually deal with bullying and teasing, arguments, peer pressure and making and keeping friends. Each chapter has easy tools for kids to use and the illustrations help.The chapter on talking back to negative thoughts was really helpful. It gives very specific ways that kids can do this. I really recommend this as a gift for the children in your life.