Hear My Roar: A Story of Family Violence

Kelly L. Green is the co-editor of the Children’s Literature edition
of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

Hear My Roar is a disturbing, powerful book tempered by gentle,
straightforward, and simple writing. The story of a “gentle small
family of gentle small creatures” who live “once upon a time, in the
woods by the shore,” this book is really about a family living with
physical and emotional abuse, and the effects this has on all of them,
including the abuser. Dr. Ty Hochban has performed a difficult feat
brilliantly—he has told a story of life-and-death importance in a way
that is neither patronizing nor heavy-handed.

According to the back-cover copy, Hochban “has worked with families
in both urban and rural areas” and “has conducted extensive research
in child developmental psychology and the effects of family violence.”
His experiences and his sensitivity to the dilemmas family violence
creates make him an eminently suitable author for this, his own brand of
“‘preventative medicine’ aimed at breaking the cycle of
violence.” Vladyana Krykorka’s beautifully simple and sensitive
illustrations add greatly to the book’s merit.

While this very special book, aimed at children ages 5 and older, is
not suitable for a general audience, it will be an enormous help for
family members, caregivers, health-care professionals, shelter workers,
and the many others who must deal with the horrors of family violence
and abuse. In his introduction, Hochban introduces some of the book’s
concepts and potential uses to adult readers, and responsibly deals with
the possibility that possession of this book might create problems for
victims of family violence. The book’s afterword gives more
information about sources of help. Highly recommended.