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by Jamie Jensen (Author), Dustin Baird (Illustrator)
As Billy goes throughout his day at school he runs into some hard obstacles; he bumps into another kid, he fails a quiz, gets left out with friends, and messes up at his baseball game. Because of all these things he gradually forgets how special and wonderful he is and gets covered in "shame mud." The shame mud affects his body and makes his body go slower and his feelings are more sad. When he comes home, his mom notices the signs of shame mud and takes some time to sit with him in the mess. When Billy and Mom are calm, Mom has the tools to help Billy get rid of the shame mud. When they replace the shame with the truth of who he really is, Billy starts to glow from the inside and his personal light dries the shame mud and it all falls off. Billy and Mom have a great discussion about how shame works and how they can be free! The goal of "Shame Mud" is to teach kids the value of being shame resilient with therapist-approved tools. All of the tools are incorporated into the story, in verse, for an effortless discussion between trusted adult and child.
