Tears of Joy

All Child/Family counselors should have a copy of this book. It exquisitely and deftly opens the doors for child sexual abuse to be revealed and the healing process to initiate. The story and illustrations invite a child in and draw the child's needs and heart out. It's a perfect door to help open up a situation that needs to be addressed. This tool is ideal and effective. Check it out.

Child abuse, especially the kind that is sexual in nature, is never easy to talk about - not for the abused or the adults around the child. Barbara J. Behm's simply told Tears of Joy is a good book to use to open the door on this terrible topic. Carly is a cheerful, outgoing child until one day something changes. The reader, like Carly's family and friends in the book, don't know what's behind Carly's sudden change. The once happy girl is now sad and distant and doesn't want to talk or play. Most of the adults around her do the right thing by asking Carly what is wrong, but true to what happens often in real life, Carly says nothing. She doesn't know what to say or even how to say it until her school counselor talks to her. Then the horrible truth comes out and the counselor is able to get Carly to see that the abuse isn't her fault and that, no matter what, telling is the right thing to do. Also included in the book are helpful hints for adults on what to do if a child confides in them and what to do about it. This is the kind of book that should be kept handy in elementary school counselor offices everywhere. If you are an adult and you suspect child abuse is happening, this book may also be a good tool to get the child to talk with you. Written in straightforward language with bright and colorful illustrations, any child can relate to the book's message. There should be more books that tackle this issue, as horrible as it is.

When abuse plays such a strong role in shaping the lives of children and the adults they eventually become, why is it that there are so few books that speak to children at the time of the abuse? Sure, there are analytical books on the topic, and scholarly works, but the real need lies in reaching out to our children at their most vulnerable time: when they're being abused. I think it's not only important, but revolutionary that Tears of Joy touches on that most taboo of subjects: sexual abuse of children. My wife was subjected to the cruelty of molestation as a young girl, and she swears by the fact that if she had had a vehicle by which to relate what she had gone through, she may have escaped the torture far sooner. A child will never tell what they don't know how to explain. How can we expect our children to learn how to explain if we don't give them the proper channel through which to do so. Thank God for this book.