Liking Myself and The Mouse, the Monster, and Me by Pat Palmer, Ed.D. are indispensable resources for parents, teachers, and counselors to help kids learn emotional skills and assertiveness skills. Reading these books with a child helps build peaceful engagement, self-esteem, emotional openness and good relationships. Both books are also available in Spanish.
Over 500,000 copies of these books have helped generations of children learn vital life skills. Youngsters today need these skills more than ever before. Social and emotional learning can set children and their families on a positive trajectory that will benefit them throughout their lives.
Adults love them, too!
Reviews for Both Books
“These bestselling books lead children to healthy and safe relationships with themselves and with others. Liking Myself is an encouraging book and a valuable resource for building self-esteem and emotional stability. The Mouse, the Monster and Me teaches healthy, non-violent conflict management skills that are more vital than ever. Highly recommended.”Midwest Book Review
“I have used these books for all of my 23 years of elementary counseling classroom lessons. My copies are tattered beyond repair! They are among the best resources to teach assertiveness and personal skills. Students retain the information and refer to them years later!”Marilyn Agee, M.Ed., LMHC, Finalist for the National Counselor of the Year Award of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
“Cómo Apreciarme es una enseñanza muy buena para mi en mi vida personal. Muchas gracias.”Odilia
“Liking Myself is ideal for children who struggle with low self esteem. It is especially helpful for children who present with significant depressive symptoms, or are currently grieving. What most impresses me about Liking Myself is Dr. Palmer’s concepts of allowing, body talk and letting go.” “The Mouse, The Monster and Me is ideal for children who routinely find themselves on the receiving end of bullying. My favorite portion of this book has to do with dealing with criticisms. In this portion of the book, children learn techniques to recognize and distinguish criticisms which apply to them, and those that do not.”Ugo Uche, M.S., L.P.C., author of Promoting Empathy With Your Teen blog, Psychology Today
“Pat Palmer has the gift of speaking to and for children. In a time when children are bombarded on all sides by destructive media messages, her books help children understand the value of kindness and caring—including kindness and caring for oneself.”Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade and many others
“Great books for helping children understand themselves and each other. I’ve given them to my eight-year-old granddaughters, one of whom reacts to difficult feelings as a monster and the other as a mouse. Their mother finds each book helpful in promoting discussion, understanding, and resolution between the girls.”Sue Patton Thoele, grandmother and author of The Courage To Be Yourself, The Mindful Woman, and several others
“These books are fantastic. I really enjoyed reading them myself, and I intend to use them in my work with juvenile offenders. Many of them read at the 3rd and 4th grade levels, and, unfortunately many do not like themselves.”David, Parole Agent, Department of Youth Authority, Los Angeles
“The Mouse, the Monster and Me is a wonderful guide to help mice, monsters, and human children to be respectfully assertive, gaining self-esteem along the way through interactive exercises. My daughters both improved their abilities to advocate for themselves and others, and they enjoyed themselves in the process. The exercises in Liking Myself put readers in touch with body sensations related to feelings and provide an essential emotional vocabulary to process and express these feelings.”Matthew P. Jones, MD, Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP)
“These books are positive, brief, and produced in a very interesting manner. Elementary school counselors and teachers can certainly use these practical books effectively with their students. Individual children can also benefit from them.”The Personnel and Guidance Journal
“These books are enormously useful! Kids will like them. So will the adults who read them with them. Everyone will grow.”Dr. Sid Simon, Professor Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, author of Values Clarification
“These books are delightful in their innocence, healthy in their advice, empowering in their message. I wish I’d grown up with them and their message.”Senator John Vasconcellos, Emeritus Dean of the California Legislature
“Liking Myself helps children find and restore their dignity. The Mouse, the Monster and Me helps transform the identities of children and parents from possibly monster-y and mouse-y— with the distress of pain, sorrow, guilt and anger— to a search for the “me” in them. Highly recommended!”Michelle Brenner, Conflict Resolution Consultant in Family, Community, Government and Workplace, Sydney, Australia
“Liking Myself is a great book to work through with children who lack confidence in themselves. The Mouse, the Monster and Me is wonderful for teaching kids appropriate social skills and communication techniques.”Susan Heim, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul
“The important message in Liking Myself is for every person of every age: It is OK and healthy to LIKE YOURSELF. It would prevent a lot of psychological disorders and depression in teen and adult life. This book as a MUST, not only for your child but also for yourself as a person and parent and for every teen. Everyone needs this book.” “The Mouse, The Monster and Me tells how a person can learn to be ME. It is not good to be a Mouse and let everyone walk all over you. It is not healthy or wise to be a Monster and attack those who disagree with you. It is wonderful and secure and happy to be ME— non-threateningly assertive in positive ways that encourage others also to be themselves.” “If everyone lived by the lessons in this little book, there would perhaps be no wars, crime, or divorce! The lessons are that powerful. Every person any age needs these books.” Bonnie Neely, Amazon Reviewer
“Liking Myself covers numerous topics about how to improve mind-body connection, including how to listen to what your body is saying to you before the messages get louder or become painful. I highly recommend this book.” “The Mouse, the Monster and Me is a simple, clever, and inspiring book that can also help adults who are working toward healing old childhood wounds. I highly recommend it for everyone—including teachers and therapists who help empower others!”Trina Swerdlow, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, author of Stress Reduction Journal
“It is recommended that Palmer’s The Mouse, the Monster and Me be used because passive, assertive, and aggressive responses are defined and assertive responses are demonstrated.”Vincent B. Van Hasselt and Michel Hersen, The Handbook of Psychological Treatment Protocols for Children and Adolescents
“Parents can confidently provide these books to their children with full assurance that they contain the kinds of values and prescriptions for positive behavior which would qualify for the behavior therapist’s imprimatur.”The Behavior Therapist
“Don’t just purchase one of these books – get both Liking Myself and The Mouse, the Monster and Me! They can help prevent unacceptable behaviors and discipline problems from the inside out.” “My favorite chapter in The Mouse, the Monster and Me deals with how to handle criticism. Many kids at any age have a lot of trouble with being able to accept criticism. On the flip side, a lot of parents have trouble correcting and guiding their children and that leads the child to live in a world where they can do no wrong. If you pat your kid on the back no matter what they do, they will develop a distorted sense of confidence that could hurt them later in life. Learning to accept and improve themselves based on feedback is an important skill to learn.”GeekDad, Curtis Silver, Wired Magazine
“Wow, what a nice, enjoyable way to present conflict management skills to children and parents. If you have been looking for ways to reach your munchkin who is struggling with self-esteem or has shown aggressive behavior, these two fantastic books are certainly worth your time! They are must-haves for parents, school counselors, therapists and teachers.”Smarty Pants Mama
“My son thinks if he’s assertive people will not like him. He’s confusing being assertive with being a “monster” (bully). The Mouse, the Monster and Me opened up his mind to how he shouldn’t be a “mouse”. Liking Myself is a great book that teaches kids the importance of being true to themselves, feeling free to like the things they like, and how to be self confident. A LOT of great information is packed between the covers of both these outstanding books. Two thumbs up as well as five stars for both of these fantastic books!”Kimberly, SheScribes
“My youngest child appreciated the emotional permission granted by Liking Myself and its simple yet important messages like “Anger is an OK feeling” and “It is okay to like yourself and be your own good friend.” She was much more willing to talk about her feelings when questions were posed “by the book.” And many of her responses were surprising. I don’t think the concept of “liking herself” had been posed to her before. I was glad to see her explore it.” “The Mouse, the Monster and Me, for older kids, deals with thornier topics like assertiveness, handling criticism, and the difference between compliments and flattery. They focus on helping children know, accept, and better themselves so they can be more confident and caring social beings. I highly recommend both books.” Squidalicious Reviews
“Liking Myself and The Mouse, the Monster and Me are valuable for teachers, parents, counselors, and even those dealing with troubled youth. These short books are ultimately geared towards preventing dysfunctional behaviors.” “I’m most impressed with the powerful activities and exercises in The Mouse, the Monster and Me. A discussion about criticism involves asking the child questions about how they ‘feel’ when criticized, and what they ‘do,’ (in a checklist fashion). It then gives TOOLS –step-by-step instructions on what to do while being criticized. WOW! These books can be helpful in so many situations—with the shy child needing to be more assertive, with the child who is a perfectionist, with the troubled youth acting out in anger as a bully, and even children being bullied.”Debra, Island Life Magazine
“We all want our children to be assertive. We want them to make good decisions and be able to stand up for themselves. We want them to like themselves and be confident in identifying and coping with their emotions using positive outlets. The Mouse, the Monster and Me, and Liking Myself assist children in learning all these critical social and emotional skills.”Michelle, Flying Giggles and Lollipops
“Soooo many adults struggle with believing in themselves. If they had only had these books when they were children…. They are fantastic. Thank you Dr. Louise Hart for making them available again!”Margie Remmers, Building Confident Kids
“These books are a joy to read. There truly is nothing like them out there these days.”Tricia Cornell, Minnesota Parent Review
“I love these books! My kids (now grown) still hear me reminding them not to be mice or monsters…, but to just say what is on their minds, as that is most fair to themselves and for others.”Chris, Colorado
“‘You know that book about the monster and the mouse, Mom?’ said my son as he smiled into the sun. ‘It’s like it was written just for me. How did the author know I struggle with stuff like this?’ I wiped away a silent tear. ‘You’re one step closer to you, I whispered’—inwardly thanking Dr. Palmer and Dr. Hart for their efforts to fill my little boy’s heart with all the joy he deserves.”Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of The Power of Slow
“Thanks, grandma. These books help me be a better kid.”11 year old Andrew
