5.0 out of 5 stars Comparison of Four Books

A. · January 14, 2019

I took a look at four books on puberty and reproduction with the help of my children, ages 7, 12, and 15. The books are Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole; What's Happening to My Body by Lynda Madaras, a title which has both a girl book and a boy book; and two books by Robie H. Harris, It's So Amazing and It's Perfectly Normal. I'll paste this review for all four books since it contains comparisons. We are keeping Cole's book, still considering Madaras's book, and returning Harris's two books.My favorite of the four books is Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole of Magic School Bus fame, and I confess that it led me to think of a number of inappropriate MSB titles for it that made me snicker like the target age group. But I digress. This book is written in simple question and answer format under different sections. For instance, early in the book, there is a heading Finding Out About Sex with two questions: Is it normal to be curious about growing up? and Is it okay to ask about sex? With these questions, she simply answers that yes, it's perfectly normal, without falling into the pitfall that other books on puberty and reproduction can fall into, making children self-conscious and embarrassed with their constant stressing of how self-conscious and embarrassed the child probably is. Instead, the matter-of-fact tone assures children that it's all good. Asking About Sex and Growing Up covers the questions simply in a conversational tone and seems largely unbiased to me. For instance, in many of the questions, she mentions different points of view, such as how some people are opposed to sex before marriage while others disagree. This leaves room for parents to further discuss these issues in light of their own beliefs. This book does discuss abortion, but I felt that Cole kept her bias on this topic to herself, too. After reading her answers to four different questions about abortion, I'm not sure what she personally believes about it, which is as it should be in an educational children's book. She also covers topics like sexual abuse and STDs. I also love that she has a section stating that the most important thing to know about sex is respecting both oneself and others. Overall, I really like this book. I like that it is not specific to either boys or girls, instead covering all the information for both sexes. I also feel like it could be used for either secular or religious households because she does maintain a respectful understanding that people of different beliefs feel differently about many of these topics.Second place goes to What's Happening to My Body, though I'm still not 100% sure about this one for reasons I'll explain. First, I'll comment on the positives. One of the things that I particularly like about this one is the inclusion of quotations at the beginning of each section from different adults who have completely different points of view. For instance, the first chapter begins with four quotes about puberty from four adult men who all had different opinions on what puberty was like for them. I think that can be helpful to let children know that whatever they think of what their bodies are doing, it's okay. Like Cole's book, this book is really detailed and goes into all kinds of topics, including masturbation. Both Cole and Madaras are matter-of-fact about this issue and assure kids that it's not harmful and, most importantly, that there's not anything wrong with them if they do so. And since I mentioned this topic in the reviews for the other books, I'll mention that this book does not discuss abortion at all though there is information about abortion and Planned Parenthood in the Resources section. I am confused at some of the negative reviews, however. Many of the topics, including slang words for genitals, that people reported do not seem to be in my edition of this book. However, other topics are present that I'm disturbed by. I'm not convinced that the book needed to include a discussion of hymens, blue balls, or boys masturbating together. Because of these topics, I might let my 15 year old son read the book, but I would not let my 12 year old read this one.I expected the Robie H. Harris books to be preferred by my children because of the simple, cartoon style of the books. However, none of my children cared for these books at all. The older two said that What's Happening to My Body was far more detailed--they didn't always appreciate the extra details, but they agreed that if we're reading books for information, more details beat fewer. They also simply didn't find the two cartoon characters at all amusing and questioned their inclusion. Their preference is why we chose against these books. However, I have my own issues with these books, and that issue is in the bias. Don't get me wrong here--I knew that It's Perfectly Normal contained information about abortion before we got it, and I felt that Cole's book mentioned above handled the topic well. That said, I particularly didn't like that this chapter is biased while pretending that it's not biased. The chapter begins by defining abortion as "a medical procedure performed for the purpose of ending a pregnancy," and it mentions that it can be an emotional decision. So far, so good. But this is followed by a full page speaking of abortion with positive descriptions and a long list of reasons people might want an abortion. Another page and a half is devoted to discussion of court cases and laws. And in one single paragraph, children are told that some people think abortion should be illegal, that they believe "that an embryo or fetus has a right to life--a right to grow in a woman's body and to be born whether or not that woman wants to have a baby." So, emphatically not unbiased. As this is a book for the education of children, and the cover states that the book is for ages 10 and up, I personally feel like the discussion about abortion could have just had the first paragraph--it's a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy and people's feelings about it are not always simple. No more is necessary for the stated age group. Even worse, she mentions that sometimes an abortion happens on its own, which is called a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion. That may be accurate, but equating a miscarriage with the medical procedure in a book written for 10 year olds is out of line. I was also disgusted to see it mentioned in It's So Amazing, which is for ages 7 and up. This one has only a paragraph about abortion, but even that is inappropriate for the age group in my opinion, and this page, which also discusses adoption, ends with the cartoon characters agreeing that they "like to have lots of choices." So in the end, I agreed with my children regarding the amount of information contained in these books compared to the others, and I also dislike them for these additional reasons.In the Cole review, I mentioned a common pitfall of puberty and reproduction books, that of potentially making children self-conscious about the subject by harping on how the reader is probably self-conscious. All four of these books avoid this pitfall. One thing that I did like about Harris's books (even though my children didn't) is the cartoon characters, specifically that the bird is excited and wants to know more while the bee seems to feel like the entire subject is TMI. All of these books attempt to make it clear that a child's feelings about this subject are fine, regardless of what those feelings are, and I imagine that they are largely successful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book

K. · November 23, 2024

This is great for a kid to read by themselves or an adult to read with them. It covers everything they ever need to know and uses direct and descriptive language. Very helpful for me and my pre teens.

4.0 out of 5 stars Best book of 4 I read but it could use an update.

L. · September 30, 2021

I read 4 books about puberty with a 13 year old boy who’s probably gay or at least bisexual as the target audience to whom I am giving the book. The best is Joanna Cole’s Asking About Sex and Growing Up: A Question and Answer Book for Kids. It covers a wide array of information from bodily changes in both boys and girls to homosexuality through history through sexual abuse and how to avoid it. It touches on all of this very briefly and with clarity and sensitivity. There’s no embarrassment here which is great. The book is a little disappointing about homosexuality. It says as of the time of writing that gay marriage is legal in one US state so it could use an update. It also maginalizes gayness by saying repeatedly that most people grow up to be straight. In a random sample that’s true but it’s not usually true for a child who has same-sex crushes. In the section on gayness, it says if you’re a teenager you should think carefully about coming out, which is true, but the goal of keeping the text concise sacrifices any mention of how to deal with the loneliness that results from keeping your sexuality to yourself. If anyone knows a book that is more specific to the concerns of a gay male teen, please let me know.The Boy’s Guide to Growing Up by Phil Wilkinson is OK. It has a little bit of the “don’t worry it’s perfectly normal” which has the opposite effect of allaying worry. This one does have a lot more frank discussion of bodies and more drawings of genitalia so it could be reassuring for kids who have expressed insecurity about their bodies. The inclusion of the penile papules is interesting. Must be the author or someone close has them and he had wanted reassurance that they’re normal. They’re very rare. (From my extensive perusal of phalluses.)Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Puberty and Shouldn’t be Googling for Curious Boys By Morris Katz is crappy. Every paragraph says, “Don’t worry about this...” and “It’s perfectly normal…” It’s a waste of space to say that and it starts to make the reader nervous. The reassurance should be conveyed in your tone, which in this book is off. The tone is far too jokey. You can’t chuckle about a topic when it’s all new to you. It’s off-putting that everyone else in the comical presentation thinks it’s funny and the reader is just trying to get some facts. The one thing this book has going for it is a few of the drawings show “puberty goggles,” where the teen boy thinks he has a full, tough looking beard but the reality is he has patchy peach fuzz which would look better shaved until it evens out. These misperceptions are part of puberty and it would be good to cover them and how a kid should maybe confer with trusted adults about such things in the text. There’s a lengthy section on how your emotions can get out of control in puberty. This seems unfounded and silly to me, telling boys they can be rage monsters during adolescence.What’s Going On Down There by Karen Gravelle was too wordy to finish reading. It had all kinds of stuff that’s irrelevant for a child like the method doctors use to determine the volume of a child’s testicles is to compare them to plastic models of varying sizes that are attached to a string. Interesting if you’re a jaded adult, weirdly off topic if you’re a clueless adolescent.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool for young men/women

A.C. · June 20, 2024

We bought this book for my 10 yr old who has been getting "curious" as he semi enters puberty. This is written in a very "matter of fact" way with very basic, factual, non biased responses and covers a whole variety of topics for boys and girls even questions about abuse, transgender etc. In todays world the best we can do for our kids if give them the straight facts in a safe environment. These conversations can be so awkward and this book has been a great tool to help him navigate this stage.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for starting talks at middle school age

A.M. · August 20, 2025

We were looking for a book that provided some pictures and descriptions that weren’t too graphic or telling more than was needed at this time. This is perfect for having the talk with my incoming middle schooler. I also like that it’s broken down so I can pick and choose which pieces my kids are ready to hear and what maybe can wait a little while longer so as not to overwhelm them with all of the info.

Concise ans relevant

P. · October 13, 2025

Superb. Good for parents to buy for 10 to 12 yr Olds for them to have the correct information about growing up

Great book for pre teens

A.C. · November 13, 2020

It’s a bit too old for 8/9 year old. Will hold onto for the future

Very Useful and Informative

A.C. · March 24, 2017

Great book, a well rounded introduction for ages 9-10. It approaches issues from a mature and understandable perspective and allows for further conversation with parent/guardian to talk sensibly on all the growing issues a young person faces. I was very impressed that this book includes a section on abuse and safety for youngsters, this is an all round excellent starter book for children to help them ease into the 'secondary' school years

Clear and simply text.

Z. · December 26, 2019

Text is simply and clear . Some information a bit overwhelming but only because it is a sensitive topic ( for a parent to introduce to child ). I think the book is great starting OR the only information your kid might need.

Great for my 8 year old.

P.L. · February 26, 2019

I was unsure about buying this book as I wondered if my child was too young. She shows signs of her body changing and so I thought I would give it a go. When I received it I read through it. The paragraphs are headlined and the book flows nicely. It is factual and to the point and short. I told my daughter I had the book and she could read it if she wanted to. We both sat reading different books and she asked me how to pronounce some of the larger words and explain some of the meanings. This showed her that she can speak to me if she wants to about these subjects. I was very comfortable with the descriptions and subjects covered. 100% recommend it and I can pass it to her brother when the time comes.