It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends (The Family Library)

Ok, let's be honest, this is not an easy topic and every household is so different on how they approach it. My son started asking questions at age 5. I was able to answer vaguely for a minute. He is almost 7 now and asking the hard questions. He is incredibly brilliant, and has always used anatomical terms, so I didn't want to be weird about it now. So I got this book hoping it would help ease into it. First, it's bigger than I thought it would be. I like this. Second, the art is a hand-drawn style, which makes the pictures more palatable. Because there are pictures. The book depicts body parts in a very appropriate way. My son has been given bits and pieces and this book has filled in the gaps in a well-thought out way. It throws in some humor, too, which is helpful. It feels casual but educational. Like a seasoned school teacher. The way I approached this is as my son asks a question, I find the page in the book that addresses it, and we read it together. That satisfies him for a bit, until he comes to me with his next questions. I found this to be a good approach, as it doesn't bombard him with everything at once, and he gets visuals to go along with my answers. He uses AI for school and I did NOT want him asking AI or Google his probing questions. Long story to say, if you are looking for a factual, casual, appropriate, anatomically correct way to approach this subject with a young child, this is your book.

I think this book is well written, covers many difficult and complicated topics in a matter-of-fact way, and is appropriate for children. Whenever my kid has body questions, I take this book out and we review it. I do not find the pictures to be too graphic; they're simple, cartoonish drawings of anatomy. I've always felt like it's important for my kid to know the actual names of body parts and body functions, and this book does a great job of explaining everything. The book is very full of information, and it's divided into clearly labeled chapters. If there's a topic that you don't think your child is ready for (or that you don't want to cover), it's easy to avoid if that's your preference. I was happy to see that they included the "not a good touch" section. I think an updated version should include a chapter on transgender/intersex people, but I did appreciate the section on "All Kinds Of Families".

This is one of the best books on these topics you can get for your young child, in my opinion. I realize that kids learn in different ways and at different rates and parents have different styles. With that in mind, some parents will want this for their kids at preschool age and some not for a few years after that.I wasn't expecting to broach most of these subjects with my daughter (age 3) for a little while yet, but she started asking a lot of specific questions about bodies. She's a very analytical kid, so I knew explaining the what, how, and why would work for her at this age (we also just had another baby, so she knew a little about that too - wish I'd had this before the pregnancy though). Then my pediatrician said we need to consider talking about good and bad touches with her, since she's in preschool without us now. After weeks of searching for the right book I decided this was the one.And it couldn't be better! The illustrations are accurate enough but also cartoony-kid friendly too. There's A LOT of information in here. That can be good and bad. My daughter would not let us take it in small bits and skip things (which didn't surprise me), but if your kid will let you it is set up very well for that. Almost everything is in a 2-page section.Some things other reviewers have said they don't like about this seemed to be not the case (and there seems to be only this one edition) - don't know why. Here's what I liked:-I liked that it talks about how boys and girls are alike in most ways (like touching bugs and painting, as well as most body parts).-I liked that the part on sex just shows a man and woman in bed (with blankets on) smiling with hearts all over. They refer to it as a special kind of loving.-I liked that there is a picture of a circumcised and non-circumcised penis (she sees them occasionally at preschool, so she wanted to know).-I liked the equation of 1 sperm + 1 egg = 1 baby (my daughter keeps talking about this and using other things, so it's boosting her math skills too - HAH!)-I liked that there is mention of other ways to have babies and families, such as IVF (which allowed me to talk to my daughter about how she and her sister were able to be born to us) and adoption.-I like the part on friendships, because it talks in a very child-friendly way about peer pressure.-I liked that the good-bad touches part was done well so as not to create fear when none exist already.There was nothing I didn't like.If your child is ready to know more about bodies and babies and such, this is a perfect book. And believe me, your child is probably ready before you think they are. Research has always shown that talking to your kids about these things doesn't put ideas about sex in their heads, it just avoids confusion and danger now and later. The only thing our own parental discomfort with it does is keep the children from talking to US about it.

Any parent knows that at some point questions about where babies come from start up. I am so glad I found this book to help with that. It is geared towards young kids and does address the facts, but in a really age appropriate way. I wasn't sure how my 6 year old would respond to reading this, but she was totally fine with it and I think she appreciated that it's straightforward (I was the one who probably felt the most uncomfortable because I didn't grow up learning about these things from my parents). I genuinely recommend it as a resource for families.