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

~ (Author), (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 3–Harris opens by introducing two cartoon characters–a green-feathered bird clad in a purple shirt and blue high-top sneakers and his spike-haired friend, a bee. They wonder, So where DO babies come from? Their conversational commentary, given in word balloons, is a lighthearted supplement to a more focused narrative. Told in the second person, the text is straightforward, informative, and personable. Facts are presented step-by-step, starting from the similarities and differences between boys and girls bodies, moving to a babys conception, growth in the womb, and birth, ending with an exploration of different configurations of families as well as a section on okay versus not okay touches. The book is logically organized into 23 double-page sections. Friendly and relaxed cartoons, either interspersed with the text or appearing in comic-strip form, are integral to the titles success in imparting the material. The labeled drawings show both the outside and the inside parts of the body. As the bee and bird say to one another, Knowing the names of ALL the parts of your body is–PERFECTLY NORMAL! Overall, this book will be accessible to its intended audience, comforting in its clarity and directness, and useful to a wide range of readers.–Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* K-Gr. 3. Harris and Emberley's It's Perfectly Normal (1994) and It's So Amazing (1999), sex-ed books for pubescent and prepubescent readers, respectively, are among today's most frequently challenged titles. Their newest targets kids closer to potty training than puberty, but like its predecessors, it will undoubtedly raise as many hackles as it attracts words of praise. Some controversial elements in the previous books have been toned down or left out here; there are no images of unclothed adults or references to masturbation, abortion, and birth control. But what remains will still widen many eyes: pictures of nude children with body parts exhaustively labeled; text about the "kind of loving [that] happens when . . . the man's penis goes inside the woman's vagina" that candidly expresses what the accompanying under-the-blankets visual leaves to the imagination. Emberley's affectionate, mood-lightening cartoons keep things approachable, while Harris' respectful writing targets children's natural curiosity without cloaking matters in obfuscating language. Based on its length and detail, the book's advertised intent to reach children as young as four seems optimistic. All the same, this will smoothly adapt to the needs of individual families, who will want to choose among the three options based less on assigned age ranges than on personal comfort levels with the topics addressed. For another forthright but less-comprehensive book, suggest Dori Hillestad Butler's My Mom's Having a Baby! (2005). Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763600474
• ISBN-13: 978-0763600471
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #233,496 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Book for Toddlers, July 30, 2006

By	Eve Granger "College Student" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

Many people think that this book, and the topic of sex and sexuality, should be avoided until the child asks about it. They hope such questions will arise around puberty. YOU SHOULD TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT SEX AND THEIR BODIES WHEN THEY'RE OLD ENOUGH TO WALK AND INTERACT WITH OTHER HUMANS. Why? Because if you wait until puberty to talk about "parts" and "making love", kissing, etc., you're leaving thirteen years during which your child can and --10%+ for young boys and 20%+ for young girls--will get sexually abused by somebody who takes advantage of the fact that they don't know any better.

This book is a blessing. In a not-too-graphic fashion, it depicts the differences between boys and girls, differences between men and women, and pregnancy. If you are uncomfortable teaching your toddler about sex, at the very least teach him/her the differences between boys and girls, and what is and isn't appropriate touching. As this book has nice cartoony but anatomically correct pictures of a naked boy and a naked girl, a parent can use it with a child of any age to *at least* show where is appropriate touching for which sex without frightening the child. I would recommend holding off the actual sex part of the book until the child is around nine or ten, but please parents, you must be comfortable teaching your child about his or her own body and what is appropriate touching from anybody to your child and from your child to anybody else.

With regards to content, the book uses simple text and real words. For example, "penis" and "vagina". I think parents ought to use these words with their children and teach them when it is appropriate to use them. For parents afraid that using such real language will land them in embarrassing situations, note that your children won't yell out curse words or anatomy words unless you pay attention to them when they do it.

With regards to the book's pictures, they are pretty cartoonish but anatomically correct. There is a picture of mom & dad having sex, but nothing that would be considered pornagraphic in any way. The picture of mom giving birth is more comical than anything else, not graphic at all.

Buy the book, share the anatomy part with your toddler, share the sex part with your prepubescent child, share the birth part with your twelve- or thirteen-year-old, but don't wait for your child to discover their sexuality at the hands of a "friend"-of-the-family (70%+ of child molestations) or the television (most people in my generation).

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good as a first exposure for Toddlers, January 30, 2007

By	S. Bourget (Southern Maine, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this because my five year old girl started asking "Where do babies come from?" The book is honest without being graphic and the pictures are not shocking. She liked the little cartoons and the simplified diagrahams. Besides just teaching the very basics about sex and where do babies come from, it also helped open the door to the conversation about good touches and bad touches. Who is allowed to touch you and what to do if someone touches you that shouldn't be.

My daughter really liked the book and didn't find it overwhelming. However, before someone buys this book, or any other book like this for their toddle, I would definitely suggest looking around at a lot of books on this topic.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Appropriate, July 30, 2006

By	C. Hogan (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first heard about this book on the news. I think it is an appropriate "tool" in aiding your children "over time". At different ages it will be extremely useful, we do not plan to go over the whole book at one time with our daughter, but at the different ages she advances to. I think its great to use correct names for body parts, we should not be ashamed to do so. And its great to understand how the body works. I was never taught about ovaries and thought I was dieing when I had my first period. No one ever taught me about sex which is why I had sex at 16, people who teach their children in advance and at appropriate ages will instill in them important knowledge and give this the upper hand vrs. other children who's parents aren't telling them anything!