“No, No Elizabeth”

This post is done in partnership with the author (Carmen K. Jimenez).

“No, No, Elizabeth” by Carmen K. Jimenez and Claudia Tenorio Pearl

As a parent something that I am constantly trying to improve is finding the balance of telling my children “no” and telling my children “yes”.  As much as I can I want to be a “yes mom”.  I want to take the time to play with them, I want to allow them to have new experiences and I want them to learn that there is so much they can do.  The world truly has a lot of wonderful things to offer and young children seem to have an insatiable desire to try it all.  Then, when they do, I love how accomplished and capable they feel.

However, I also feel that boundaries are very important.  In my opinion children often don’t  have the background knowledge, experience or judgment to make the best choices.  If I let my children have everything they wanted not only would they be likely to grow up feeling entitled, they would seriously suffer from nutrient deficiency from eating donuts for every meal.  You know what I mean?  As a mom there will always be times that I say “no”, perhaps even multiple times within the same day.  But, I want my children to know that it isn’t because I don’t love them and because I don’t want them to be happy. In fact, it is because of the opposite!  Any tools I can find to help me with this balance act is greatly appreciated!  (Enter: “No, No Elizabeth!”)

This book is fabulous!  It teaches the message that sometimes adults need to say “no”, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t love their child.  In the story Elizabeth has a lot of different things she wants to do, such as playing outside after it rained and eating baked treats before they are finished.  With each of these activities someone tells her “no” and even though they mention their reason for saying “no” Elizabeth winds-up frustrated and feeling like everyone is against her.  It is then that her mother comes and explains to her that, while sometimes they do need to say “no”, they love her very much.

I absolutely love this book! I love how it approaches this serious topic in such a playful way with the most cheery and adorable illustrations.  I love how simple and focused the text is to render it easy for young children to understand.  I love how the situations where Elizabeth wants something that can’t happen at the moment are so applicable to young children.  I love that the ending illustration shows Elizabeth surrounded by her family spending time with them and feeling loved.  I love the tone of this book and how positive, uplifting and loving it is.  Basically, I love it all and I am thrilled that my children approve.

Click here to purchase “No, No, Elizabeth”