It is a sad mark of the decay of our society that a book like this must even be written.
Not long ago child sexual molestation was a non-issue.
But times have changed and news clips of child sexual predators appear far too often.
As aptly stated in the concluding letter to parents, we want to be proactive in protecting our children.
The full color book contains counsel from a mother to her son Samuel to warn him of five different ways sexual defilement could come into his life in the future.
The first is from a fellow playmate who shows Samuel his privates and asks to see his.
Mother's counsel is, "Now you know my little Samuel This is truly bad.
Even if he is your friend it makes God very sad.
So, I ask you now, Samuel son, Will you think it's all in fun? Will you stay, or will you run?" Samuel affirms he will run! The second is clearly the most serious of the five.
It comes from a friend or family member who wins the trust of the family but secretly wants to sexually molest Samuel in some way and then convince him not to tell.
"Will you do just as he says and keep his evil secret? or will you run and tell and yell? Will you be brave, my Samuel?" The goal in each situation is to make the deed public for, as is stated in the letter to parents at the end, "A child predator loses his power when he loses his cover.
" The third is an invitation to look at pornography.
The fourth is similar to the first except that the boy is older and threatens Samuel if he tells.
The fifth deals with lustful thoughts Samuel might have as he grows older.
In each case, Samuel is encouraged to tell his parents what has happened.
He is not to heed threats or keep "little secrets" between friends.
In the book Samuel is not taught why the act is wrong or how to deal with the other person involved.
He is simply taught how to identify a bad situation and how to respond, by fleeing and telling his authority what happened.
The counsel dialog is in the form of a poem with a loose rhyming scheme.
Full color watercolor drawings fill the pages, making even this subject interesting and attractive.
It expresses the love of a mother in wanting to protect her son from defilement that could affect him the rest of his life.
It also contains Samuel's response.
If any of the situations ever happened, Samuel promises he would run, or yell and tell.
The last two pages, written to parents, are timely and wise.
They share statistics about where predators pop up and ways to recognize dangerous conduct in others.
But they also warn against living in paranoia.
We are not to mistrust everyone.
Neither are we to avoid being friendly with children for fear we will be misunderstood.
However, we all need to be wise in avoiding situations that might even appear questionable.
And we need to make our children aware of situations they might face that are too big for them to handle.
Reading this book to them periodically will outline the potential situations and teach them how to respond.
A sequel is soon to be published for girls entitled Sara Sue Really Learns to Yell and Tell.
Hopefully No Greater Joy will also produce similar materials addressed to older children as well.