Flight of the Stork: What Children Think (And When About Sex and Family Building) [Paperback]

Anne C. Bernstein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Where do children think babies come from? You may be surprised by the answers given in this revised and expanded edition of the popular 1978 title. Bernstein (Yours, Mine & Ours: How Families Change When Remarried Parents Have a Child Together, Norton, 1990) examines how children think differently from adults concerning sex and birth. Page after page of enlightening interviews take us deep into the minds of children three to 12 years old. The interviews demonstrate each child's level of mental development and also show how a child's thinking changes with age. This understanding of child development will help adults communicate better with children about the origin of families as well as the origin of babies. The revision also deals with such 21st-century topics as assisted reproductive technology, donor insemination, and surrogacy. These valuable additions make the book essential even for libraries already owning the first edition.
Marty D. Evensvold, Magnolia P.L., Tx.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: Perspectives Pr; Revised edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944934099
• ISBN-13: 978-0944934098
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavier, academic book, but well written and fun., January 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Flight of the Stork: What Children Think (And When About Sex and Family Building) (Paperback)

Ok, this is a bit of a heavier, academic-type book, although the writing style is easy enough to read.

Bernstein has interviewed many children about their understanding about sexuality, particularly in terms of pregnancy, birth and family structure. The book is filled with examples of what children say and think, which can be fun to read.

Bernstein separates children's responses into six rough stages of mental development, which turn out to be fairly clearly differentiated. In each stage, she describes and explains how children think, giving examples of what children have said in interviews with her. She then also suggests how to talk to children of each stage, taking into account their understanding and way of thinking at that time.

There are also chapters on adoption and stepfamilies, and generally how to discuss and make sense of the great variety of family structures children encounter, and how children understand them.

It's reasonably fun reading, if you have the concentration to read through it all, and the desire to think about yourself and your situation, and how you may improve your communication and the understanding of the children you encounter.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected but interesting, March 28, 2006

By 

Callista "from SMS Book Reviews" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flight of the Stork: What Children Think (And When About Sex and Family Building) (Paperback)

The book is labelled as What Children Think (and When) about Sex and Family Building. I expected it to be more like a humour book with kids answers to questions about what sex is and where babies come from. Sort of like Kids Say the Darndest Things about Sex. I was wrong.

It does have antedotes from children about these subjects but the purpose of the book is not to make us laugh but to teach us what children at different levels think, how much they can understand, what they really want to know and how to talk to them.

Although it wasn't what I thought it was, I found it interesting. I have read other books on how to talk to your kids about sex but this takes a different route. It divides children into different levels of understanding and shows you to how help them reach the next level. It explains how sometimes when a child asks a question, they really only want a simple answer, not details. It suggests you should sometimes ask your child what THEY think the answer is so you can see where they are getting mixed up. It also proved that while most parents think they're children understand the birds and the bees, most have a few things off, some have it all wrong.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helping Infertility Patients, September 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Flight of the Stork: What Children Think (And When About Sex and Family Building) (Paperback)

Although this book isn't specifically about childrearing an "infertility" child, knowing the thought processes that children go through when learing about "where do I come from" is crucial for anyone who is thinking about using assisted reproduction or who is thinking of adopting to understand. The book contains some specific sections on those areas, but don't just skip to them. This book can help you make those very difficult decisions relating to whether you can BE a parent of a child brought to your family by less than traditional methods.