Amazing You: Getting Smart About Your Private Parts [Hardcover]

Gail Saltz (Author), Lynne Cravath (Author), Lynne Avril Cravath (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: May 5, 2005 | Age Range: 3 - 6 years

"Mom, where do babies come from?”

Many parents live in fear of the day their child asks that question—which inevitably happens, often as early as the preschool years. Here is a picture book designed especially for young children who are becoming sexually aware but aren't ready to learn about sexual intercourse. Written with warmth and honesty, Amazing You! presents clear and age-appropriate information about reproduction, birth, and the difference between girls' and boys' bodies. Lynne Cravath's whimsical illustrations enliven the text, making this a book that parents will gladly share with their young ones.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–This title tackles basic body awareness and sex education. The text speaks directly to young children, differentiating between body parts that are visible most of the time and those that are kept hidden, showing the differences between girls and boys and offering a simple explanation of how babies are made without explicit reference to sex. Cravath's sunny cartoons show the various parts in a straightforward manner, though preschoolers may be confused about where the internal ones are. The text also uses terms such as "vagina" and "urinate" without actually explaining what they mean, and, curiously, the text does not discuss breasts at all, though there are side-by-side illustrations of a boy and girl in the baby, preschool, and adult stages. An author's note advises parents on the finer points of discussing these delicate issues. Though Laurie Krasny Brown's What's the Big Secret?: Talking about Sex with Girls and Boys (Little, Brown, 1997) remains the gold standard for sex ed for young children, this book is a friendly supplement or a nice starter for parents who aren't quite ready to go into the detail provided in Brown's book.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. This upbeat picture book, illustrated with sunny cartoon drawings, introduces kids to basic reproductive physiology. Saltz offers simple, accessible definitions of terms, accompanied by pictures of unclothed kids and labeled diagrams of internal organs. Subsequent drawings show three stages of body development from baby to young adult, followed by an abbreviated explanation, illustrated with a heart-shaped drawing of a smiling egg and sperm, of reproduction: "When a man and a woman love each other and decide that they want to have a baby, a man's sperm joins with a woman's egg. From the egg and sperm, a baby will grow." The book is more specific about birth: "The baby will come out of the mother's vagina, which is very, very stretchy." Saltz presents the information clearly in a cheerful, positive tone, encouraging kids to learn about their private parts and reassuring them that curiosity and touching themselves (in private) is natural. For a slightly older audience, Dori Hillestad Butler's exemplary picture book My Mom's Having a Baby (2005) explains the facts of life in more detail. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 - 6 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (May 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525473890
• ISBN-13: 978-0525473893
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.4 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Health > Maturing
  • #43 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Anatomy & Physiology

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Overall a Very Good Book March 7, 2006

By Laura J. Johnson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

My 3 year old and I like this book quite a bit. I'm a pretty liberal mom so the graphic yet tasteful illustrations of private parts and the frontal nudity of grown adults doesn't bother me in the least nor does it seem to faze her. Some adults might be freaked out by this so I wouldn't give it as a gift unless you're sure the parents won't faint from embarrassment.

I was a bit bothered by a few things though such as the sentence, "But what about the other parts, the parts that nobody else but you sees?"

I don't think there are any preschoolers who are the soul viewer or toucher of their private parts. I still need to do hygiene on my daughter, as do her grandparents, and preschool teachers. And, of course, the doctor sees her private parts. I think this book missed an opportunity to explain when and who it is appropriate to show one's genitals to and when it's inappropriate.

There is an illustration of an ovum with a face drawn on it. This may not be a big deal but my daughter was confused by the bodyless head. And trying to explain it was a bit difficult.

One other thing was this passage, "The baby will come out of the mother's vagina, which is very, very stretchy. It stretches wide enough for the baby to come out and then goes back to the way it was before." Well--I wasn't very, very stretchy. My daughter was born by c-section as (If I am correct) 20% of babies are now a days. I would have liked to have seen c-sections mentioned since there are so many kids that come into the world this way.

I'm really just mildly nit-picking this wonderful book. The few problems I have mentioned as bothering me can be turned around and be grounds for starting a dialogue with your child.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book May 18, 2006

By D. Platt

Format:Hardcover

I was looking for a book to use to start talking with my almost 5-year-old about sex. I thought this book was great. It has age-appropriate cartoons and text. I thought that after reading it to my daughter she might have some questions, but she seemed to take it in stride. We've always spoken without embarrassment about body parts and the introduction of the idea of eggs and sperm or babies coming through a vagina didn't seem to phase her. The book does not mention intercourse, which was fine because she didn't ask how the egg and sperm met or arrived in the uterus, so I guess that will come later. When I added that it did hurt when my vagina stretched for her and her brother to come out she said, "oh man, I'm only going to have one baby then." Her little brother looked at the cartoon of the baby in the uterus, pointed to the umbilical cord and said, "baby penis." Funny. I think it's a great introduction and starting point for other conversations (c-sections, circumcision, nurse-midwives, etc.)

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Book August 7, 2006

A Kid's Review

Format:Hardcover

I thought it was a good book, and that it really taught me about my private parts, but I think it was really meant for kids younger than me only because I'm 8 years old.