Stick Up for Yourself: Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power & Positive Self-Esteem (Revised & Updated Edition)

First published in 1990, this perennial best-seller has helped countless children build self-esteem and assertiveness skills.

Newly revised and updated, it’s the ultimate resource for any kid who’s ever been picked on at school, bossed around, blamed for things he or she didn’t do, or treated unfairly—and for any kid who sometimes feels frustrated, angry, powerless, or scared. Simple words and real-life examples show how children can stick up for themselves with other kids (including bullies and teasers), big sisters and brothers, even grown-ups.

Kids learn how to build relationships, become responsible, manage their anger, grow a “feelings vocabulary,” make good choices, solve problems, set goals, and “store” happiness and pride. Questions from real kids are paired with answers about how to handle specific situations calmly, confidently, and effectively. A special note to parents and teachers explores the “self-esteem backlash” and explains what self-esteem really is—and why kids today need it more than ever.

A wealth of practical, encouraging, realistic advice, this empowering little book is also recommended for parents, teachers, and counselors.
Part of the Bully Free Kids™ line

Gershen Kaufman was educated at Columbia University and received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Rochester. Professor in the Counseling Center and Psychology Department at Michigan State University, he is the author of Shame: The Power of Caring and The Psychology of Shame: Theory and Treatment of Shame-Based Syndromes. He is the coauthor with Lev Raphael of Dynamics of Power: Fighting Shame and Building Self-Esteem and Coming Out of Shame. Lev Raphael was educated at Fordham University and received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Michigan State University, where he has taught as an assistant professor of American Thought and Language. With Gershen Kaufman, he codeveloped and cotaught the program, “Affect and Self-Esteem,” on which the books Dynamics of Power and Stick Up for Yourself! are based. Book critic for National Public Radio’s “The Todd Mundt Show” and “Mysteries” columnist for The Detroit Free Press, he is the author of three Nick Hoffman mysteries, most recently The Death of a Constant Lover. Pamela Espeland has authored, coauthored, or edited over 200 books for Free Spirit Publishing on a variety of subjects. Pamela graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and currently lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two little dogs.