Customer Reviews

God Made Your Body (Pure Foundations)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Talk"

Perhaps no two other words instill more fear and trembling in the mind of a parent than the thought of having "the talk" with their child. Many parents (myself included) often wonder when is the right age to begin discussing intimacy, sexuality and biology with your children. While there are many books written on the subject, few that I've read address it with such delicacy, simplicity, and beauty as Dr. Jim Burns does in his book series "Pure Foundations." In this series, Burns seeks to "lay the foundations for healthy sexuality" with "age-appropriate resources" in order to equip parents to teach their children that their bodies and sexuality are God-given gifts. I had the opportunity to read and review the first two books in the series.

The first, "God Made Your Body" is aimed at children ages 3 to 5. With beautiful, yet simple photography, this first book helps children to recognize differences, not just between boys and girls, but between everybody in things such as eye color, skin color, hair texture, ability, etc. "God made boys and God made girls. God made all shapes and sizes. He created all colors and languages." In noting both the similarities and the differences between boys & girls, the book smoothly segues into the "special way" that God made our bodies different from the opposite sex. On one page, the almost nondescript outline of a 3-year old boy is shown, noting the penis and testicles. Similarly, the outline of a 3-year old girl is also shown noting the vagina and the womb. Although the concept of "making love" is briefly touched on, the book (appropriately) does not go into detail as to what this entails other than to say, "Making love is something that God made just for a husband and a wife to enjoy together. When a mommy and daddy make a baby, they each give one special part of themselves...." It then shows the progress of how a baby grows inside the mother's womb and how the baby comes out ("the baby travels through the birth canal, or vagina, which is between the mommy's legs.")

There were several things I appreciated about the book, the first being the recognition that at this age a child doesn't need ALL the facts. Another thing was that when talking about how the baby grew, it gave size comparisons that a 3-year old would be familiar with - a Cheerio, an orange slice, etc. Perhaps most important was the clear impression that a baby, even at one month in the womb, is very much a person, complete with heartbeat. As the father of three children who were adopted, of especial interest to me was the inclusion that, while "most of the time, babies are born into their families...sometimes, babies are adopted into their families."

I would highly recommend this first book of the Pure Foundations series to parents of younger children.

By Jim Burns

97807642117

"Laying the foundations for healthy sexuality: an age appropriate resource for ages 3 to 5"

This is a new book from the Bethany House publishers. They sent it to me to review.

This is the first book in the series; the second one is "How God Makes Babies."

As a parent of a 4 and 7 year old, I know it will be part of my job to teach my children how to view their bodies in relation to God's will for their lives. I looked at this book to see if it would be a good resource to teach my children about their bodies.

This is the first in the series and is specifically geared towards children ages 3 to 5, although especially with this type of book I recommend previewing the book on your own first to make sure it only has topics you think your child is ready for. Each child matures at a different rate and its important to stay slightly ahead of them in their understanding yet not give them information that is too mature.

This book starts off by showing pictures of kids in all shapes and sizes. It talks about facial features and skin color and hair types all being different. Then it tells us that different kids like to do different things. Then we talk about what features God gave to both boys and girls (toes, etc.)

Then we find out that little boys have a p**nis and tes**icles .

We find out that little girls have a v**gina and a womb. Each of these pages has a cartoonish diagram of the body parts talked about.

Then we find out that mommies and daddies come in all shapes and sizes.

One thing I think is a little too mature for even my 7 year old yet is the idea of "making love". I don't believe young children are ready for any types of euphemisms. For example I refused to teach my kids a euphemism for boogers for a long time because I didn't want them to use any of the vocabulary. I don't think my kids need to be asking me about "making love." This book just says that the mommy and daddy "come together" and giving parts of themselves to make a baby (sperm and egg).

Then it talks about babies growing in mommy's tummies and that most babies are born in hospitals. The way the author talks about these topics is, I think, very age-appropriate. Then we talk about different types of families, including adoption, grandmas and grandpas, and single parents. The idea of non-mainstream families (same-sex marriages, etc) is not specifically introduced.

I loved the pictures and illustrations in this book, and without the phrase "making love" I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. You decide for yourself if your 3 to 5 year old is ready for this book.

I personally prefer the book "Each One Specially" for this age group.

I recently read the book by Jim Burns titled God Made Your Body. I sat down and read it with my 4 year old daughter. I have read books similar to this one before so I was interested to see the approach that Mr. Burns would take. He starts out talking about the differences in people in regard to eye, hair, and skin color. Then he talks about the differences in height. He also mentions how children have different talents and likes. He then talks about how boys and girls are made different. He uses simple black line drawings to show the difference. They are very tasteful. The rest of the book is full of great color photos of real people. The pages are very glossy. He speaks about how the baby is made by a mother and father who are married. making love. I enjoyed how the book showed the growth of the baby in the womb by comparing it to everyday objects. That is great for kids to really understand the size and changes the baby goes through. I feel the book gives a basic description that is age appropriate. Just remember that all parents don't share this information with their children so your child should be reminded to talk about this with mom and dad if he wants to discuss it further. This is a good book to add to your home library for you to teach your children that God Made Your Body. -- NR

This is a lovely book about how unique God has made each person. The target age for this book is children 3 to 5 years old. It is a well written and easy to understand with beautiful full color pictures. It does and excellent job showing children that we are all different and special because God made us. From our skin, eye, and hair color to our talents and senses we are all unique! We are shown age appropriate drawings of the difference between girls and boys. Children get to see that grownups come in different shapes and sizes too. This book covers how a baby is made, where it grows, and size comparisons to help children understand how big a baby is at one, three, and six months. This book is a constant builder of self-esteem as it tells the child over and over how special he or she is and how important they are to God and to their families, weather they were born into them, or adopted. I can't wait to share this wonderful book with my five year old daughter!

Too much detail and blatant talk for my comfort, but if you're ready for your kids to know A LOT from a biblical perspective then it's great. I'll be waiting for a bit. My kids are 6 3/4,5,2 3/4,infant. :)

God Made Your Body by Jim Burns (Pure Foundations for ages 3 to 5) was a wonderful children's book. There are real pictures in the book of real kids, real people. And the language is real too, not "kiddie" They use the same language I talk to my kids in when explaining things, like vagina and penis. It explains how a baby is made and born. It talks about family, and adoption. I think this is one of the better children's for teaching about the body, and differences in people; skin color, hair color, etc. I enjoyed looking at this book with Callan and talking to him about it. What a great book!

I want my children to learn about their bodies with a godly mindset and when I think of ages 3 to 5 such as God Made Your Body I didn't think there would be graphic details of body parts. The illustrations for the body parts are black and white outlines with are labeled as well as an illustration showing a sp*** and egg.

I could see definitely being able to read this book to my 3 (almost 4 year old) but I would skip over the parts that didn't pertain to him. I don't understand why a child this age needs to know what the opposite gender's privates are called or how a baby is actually made. We have simply told our children that God gives mommies and daddies their babies, and I think that is all they need to know.

It is nice to see a such a beautiful book that introduces the human body to children ages three to five.

The author talks about the body, including a discussion of sperm and egg, development of the baby (from conception through birth), and types of families.

I really like the fact that the author approaches the whole topic from a Biblical point of view.

With all the information about "alternative families" and lifestyles being pushed on our children today, I would definitely recommend the book for anyone in a preschool, daycare of public school setting. However, it is a wonderful book for any family interested in talking with young children about sexuality issues.

Sonya Haskins, author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us: How Your One-of-a-Kind Family Can Make Homeschooling and Real Life Work

(Although I am affiliated with Bethany House Publishers, I obtained this book on my own and wanted to write a review. My affiliation as an author myself has not influenced my opinion of the book.)

As parents we are asked tough questions by our children. Jim Burns has written this book to help parents with the tough questions of human sexuality. Young children are curious and wonder where babies come from~ among other things. From this book parents are able to read with their preschoolers and teach them about their bodies and that God made them.

I would suggest reading this book and be prepared to discuss with your child the topics included before reading to your child.

When I was growing up, people just didn¡¦t talk about this stuff. At least in our family we didn¡¦t. Our grandparents grew up in a Victorian-influenced culture where you didn¡¦t talk about your bodies, sexuality or any kind of stuff. It wasn¡¦t proper. Well, after being around friends who have approached this subject and opened up the lines of communication about it with their kids, I decided that it seemed like a good thing to do, but how?

In a world, where the subject of sex is overt and all around as ¡V and a topic of interest even for elementary kids ¡V if we don¡¦t talk about it to our kids (in ways appropriate for their age), they¡¦re going to get information, accurate or not, from somewhere else.

It doesn¡¦t mean that this was easy for me ¡V or Chet ¡V to talk about with our girls who are three and five. I had trouble breathing as I read the first book ¡V for 3-5 year olds! Obviously, I have issues. Chet had read a book for fathers of daughters. It said that it is a good idea for it to be the father¡¦s responsibility to approach this topic with his girls. So, he read God Made Your Body to them. His voice sounded strangled as he read and I couldn¡¦t stop giggling ¡V not the best start, but we did it. Can you imagine if we tried to talk about it with them and didn¡¦t have a book to start off with? Oh my.

Our oldest daughter got the giggles as we read ¡V probably due to my influence. Our youngest daughter was concerned about how a baby gets out of the mother¡¦s womb and that the baby was crying after it was born. But we¡¦ve started and I¡¦m thankful for this series. It seems very age appropriate to me and introduces the basic body parts of a boy and girl in a very natural conversational way (something that we don¡¦t seem capable of yet) and ¡§how babies are made¡¨ in its most basic form. I wanted some sort of book like this to get us started and am all the more grateful that there¡¦s Christian-based material to use.

Needless to say, I almost passed out when I read How God Makes Babies¡Kto myself, LOL. º Yes, I have personal issues to work through apparently (thank goodness I have a little time to get over it), but it looks like an excellent way to continue this conversation with our children. It is my hope to continue with this series by Jim Burns as they get older too. The material seems very age appropriate, is more than helpful in introducing and continuing the conversation of the birds and the bees and says it so much better than we would!