NSPCC children’s book launched in Welsh across primary schools and nurseries

The NSPCC’s children’s book, Pantosaurus and the Power of PANTS, is being made available in Welsh in every primary school, nursery and library in Wales.

The book, written by Rebecca Girlings and illustrated by Fhiona Galloway and Jamie Nash, is based on the charity’s Talk PANTS campaign and features the NSPCC’s friendly dinosaur Pantosaurus who teaches parents and children about how to stay safe.

Talk PANTS helps children to recognise what abuse is and how they can speak up if anything does not feel right.

The book is aimed at parents and carers of children between three and eight years old, providing adults advice on how to talk to children in an age-appropriate way about sexual abuse.

And NSPCC Cymru has now launched new bilingual PANTS resources that are free for schools and childcare settings to use.

The children’s charity has worked with the PSHE Association to develop a range of new resources for children aged three to 11 years old and for children with Additional Learning Needs (ALN).

The new free resources include a lesson plan, PowerPoint presentation and activities, along with teaching guidance.

A Welsh Government grant has supported the translation of the book into Welsh, which is being published by Rily Publications and has been translated by author Luned Aaron.

10,000 copies will be made available across 2,000 primary schools, nurseries and libraries across Wales by the end of this month.

The book helps children learn about the PANTS rules which aims to help keep them safe from sexual abuse. From P through to S, each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule – that their privates parts are private, their body belongs to them, and that they should tell an adult they trust if they are worried or upset.

In the book, children will read about Pantosaurus getting a new pair of pants and Dinodad tells him that they will give him special powers. Pantosaurus then experiences a problem at school and just as Dinodad told him, his super pants give him the power to speak up.

Research conducted by the NSPCC suggests that 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused and, through PANTS, the charity is working to make sure that all children have the vital language that they need to speak out to a trusted adult.

Since the launch of the Talk PANTS campaign 10 years ago, 1.5 million parents have already had one of these conversations with their children and the Pantosaurus Song has been watched more than 3.7 million times by families.

The NSPCC now hopes the book being available in Welsh will help many more parents and carers talk PANTS with their little ones.

Tracey Holdsworth, Assistant Director at NSPCC Cymru, said: “We’re so excited to launch our Talk PANTS storybook in Welsh, featuring our friendly dinosaur Pantosaurus.

“This bright and playful picture book is perfect for reading with younger children and not only will they love Pantosaurus and his roarsome story, it’s also a fantastic tool for parents and carers to spark conversations with their little ones to help keep them safe.

“I’d like to thank the Welsh Government and Rily for helping us to make this essential book available in Welsh and helping to empower families to talk to children about this difficult topic in an age appropriate way.”

The translation of the book into Welsh comes after NSPCC Cymru was recently announced as the Welsh Language Commissioner’s charity of the year.

Lynda Tunnicliffe, Director of Rily Publications, said: “We want to thank the Welsh Government for supporting this initiative and enabling us to create this essential resource which will reach so many children, carers and teachers throughout Wales.

“I believe that the Pantosaurus book and the NSPCC’s Talk PANTS campaign will definitely make a positive impact to all young children across Wales and it has been an honour and a pleasure to be part of this important project”.

More information about PANTS resources for schools and teachers can be found here.