An Inside Story: A Children’s Book for Grown-Ups Too!

As Alex experiences a fear of being teased, she learns to listen to her body and her heart and discover the unmet need prompting her to feel as she does. This helps her to understand herself better without getting stuck in judgments about who and what triggered her to feel as she does. The process Alex goes through is at the core of an approach called Nonviolent Communication (NVC). NVC assumes that behind every human action there is an attempt to meet a need. Connecting with this need helps people to share what they really want more directly, and in a way that is more likely to get them what they need and want. Sadly, many people bypass these bodily messages and get stuck in thoughts -blaming themselves or others for how they feel. This only makes things worse, and keeps them from connecting to themselves, to life, and to others.

With powerful simplicity and relatable images, An Inside Story, has what is needed for parents to start a new and different conversation with their children about how they are affected by what happens to them in their everyday lives - a conversation which is more likely to support the child in sharing what’s going on with them, and support the parent who wants to be truly helpful.

An Inside Story uses simple, accessible language and adorable art to call attention to the importance of what goes on inside us that we often hide. In an age of polarization it serves as a reminder of our human commonality despite our many differences. Miki Kashtan, Co-founder, Bay Area Nonviolent Communication