Ibby's Feelings is a book to be read along with young children. It is the story of a fouryear-old child who is witnessing domestic violence in her home. Ibby's Feelings demonstrates that children who witness or experience domestic violence may have some of the same normalcies as children who do not. They may do fun things with their parents, enjoy time spent with other family members, and have their favorite pastimes. The difference is, the lives of children who witness or experience domestic violence are plagued with anticipation of the violence that could occur at any given moment, without warning. Ibby's Feelings is a roadway to freedom from the rage, the silent shame, the fear, and the pain caused by domestic violence. Ibby's Feelings assists adults in understanding the impact of domestic violence on young children. Ibby's Feelings sends a simple yet pertinent message to adults and that message is PLEASE HELP!

The stress of witnessing and/or experiencing domestic violence impacts upon the lives of young children in ways that are oftentimes overlooked by adults. For example, the child may seem timid, be aggressive, be asthmatic, or appear to have attention deficit disorder. Ibby's Feelings is a storybook to be read "with" children who are or may have been exposed to domestic violence. The book can assist adults who work with children in opening a doorway that allows child victims to label and discuss their feelings and their experiences. Statistics have shown that a man who batters his wife or significant other, could more than likely abuse the children who live in that household. Even children who are not experiencing the violence themselves can suffer in some way because they have witnessed it.

Ibby's Feelings is a cry for help from the young child who is witnessing and/or experiencing domestic violence, and the wounded child who lives within adults who witnessed or experienced domestic violence as children.

Baaqia J. Uqdah (pronounced Bak-ia J. Uk-da) For more than thirty-five years Ms. Uqdah enjoyed caring for infants and toddlers, and teaching preschool children. She combined the skills and knowledge obtained through her work, her credentials in the early childhood profession, and her BA in English to create a literacy rich classroom learning environment for the children she taught and cared for. She later became a childcare center director and progressed to teacher trainer. Ms. Uqdah witnessed domestic violence as a young child, and survived domestic violence as an adult. Upon retiring as an early childhood educator, Ms. Uqdah embarked upon a career as a domestic violence victims advocate. Today she is a candidate for the Domestic Violence Specialist Certification in the State of New Jersey. Her combined passions for early learning and child welfare inspire her primary focus in the field of domestic violence, i.e., its impact it on the very young child.

As an early childhood professional Ms. Uqdah worked with children and families in crisis. Often times the crisis was directly related to domestic violence. Ms. Uqdah would encourage her students to express their feelings through language arts. Additionally, she realized that so often adults learn valuable lessons and gain pertinent information through literature that is intended for children. Thus Ibby was created to assist adults in seeing domestic violence through the eyes of a young child, to help child victims label and voice their feelings, and assist child victims in releasing the fear and sadness they hold within.