Dial Books Can I Give You a Squish?

This is exactly what I was looking for…a book to teach my toddler how to play gently! It’s a great intro to the idea of consent. And the drawings are adorable! We all love this one.

I fell in love with the cover for the first time I saw it! The story is adorable and sweet following a merboy named Kai who loves to give a squish to everyone. But it turns out not everyone loves to be squished. I love love love the art and story!!

Kai goes around squishing everyone and everything. He squishes a puffer fish who is upset by this. Kai can’t fathom why, except ... oh this fish must just like a different type of squish? Oh, OKAY. There’s no lesson here about asking for consent before touching someone or apologizing for not respecting someone else’s physical boundaries.My 2 year old likes this book — the illustrations are cute and he likes to say “squish! squish!” — so I added a couple of lines to help the book out. I wouldn’t keep this as your only book about consent.

This is really helping my 2 1/2 year old learn about physical boundaries. She LOVES to hug and kiss but her best friend really dislikes any sort of physical affection. I still have to remind her about “fin bumps” but the explanation has helped her a lot.

Adorable story with a good premise - teaches kids about respecting others’ boundaries with raged to touch. No hugging without consent, etc. but in a cute subtle manner. My kids loved it (ages 7 and 4). It was a recommendation from another parent friend and I have no recommended it to various other friends!