Customer Reviews

Show Me!: A Picture Book of Sex for Children and Parents

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

176 pages, 217 x 302 mm (slightly larger than A4), 69 extra-large photographs (two-page spreads), 56 small photographs, a number of tiny photographs. All photographs black and white; no illustrations, 36 pages of explanatory text.

This is a book that will be considered superb by ultra-progressive parents, children, and by pedophiles. Most parents, even liberally-minded ones, will find this book confronting and offensive. Disclaimer: I am an ultra-progressive parent, and my views are not those of the majority.

This is a superb book for children and parents as a resource to discuss sexuality in an ultra-progressive context. It begins with 138 pages (69 double-page spreads) of black and white photographs which are excellent quality, very gentle, beautiful, empathetic. Some of the photographs are extremely explicit; the most explicit include erect boys' penises and adults copulating. The photographs are accompanied by a running dialog between some of the children and adults photographed, eg: "But I've got a PENIS and YOU don't.", "SO WHAT? I've got a VAGINA instead!"

The 138 pages of large photographs are followed by 36 pages of explanatory text by Dr. Fleischhauer-Hardt, for parents, which also include smaller photographs of a similar nature; the text discusses sexuality and discussing sexuality with children.

This book is long out of print, because of the hassle Will McBride has received over the book, and the reluctance of any publisher to take it on. It is, however, followed by Zeig Mal Mehr! (Show Me More!), which is currently in print in Germany, but has never been published in English. And Will McBride hopes one day to be able to write "Show Me More Again!", the third in the series.

Absolutely excellent for the few of us who are progressive enough, but this book will go strongly against the value system of most parents. I have spoken with two sexologists and two psychologists about this book; they agree that it will offend most adults, but is useful for the few who are sufficiently liberal-minded.

I stumbled over this book at age 14. Too bad it's not available anymore, and it is unlikely it will ever be available again, certainly never in the US. We're back in the dark ages - not supposed to know, mustn't touch, and just say no. The book's scope is to inform young people right before and during puberty of the realities of sex. It is very informative in pictures - they say more than 1000 words, you know - and text, with useful sex-ed material such as discussion of STD's, contraception, and the psychology of sex. Unless you're an adult, you won't think it's pedophilia. You'll just see naked people that are of roughly your age doing things that people of that age do, or will do within short time. At age 14 when I read it, I would probably have been shocked by the sort of hard core porn that's available at every newsstand, yet this book to me seemed just right, sensitive, a skin-deep look into sexuality from childhood to adulthood. In that respect it was my dream book, it answered many questions and calmed some fears I still had. I found it very respectful in every sense. Yet if you are an "All-American" adult who harbors the pre-Freudian conception that people are sexless in thought and action until the legal age of 18.0, or at least should be repressed into being so, then this book will disturb you. If you are in puberty, this book will be the answers to your zillion questions. For the pedophiliacs out there, well I guess they would like it too - but why deprive all of our young of the mercy of thorough information so they grow up in touch with their bodies and with the other gender, just because we're afraid someone unhealthy might get a kick out of it too?

I have been a book collector for most of my life. If you asked me what book most deserves the title, One-Of-a-Kind, I'd answer with out hesitation SHOW ME! It's like no other book ever published before and in all likelihood no other book that ever will be published in the future. I'm absolutely amazed that it was ever sold openly at mainstream book stories but it was.

The photos are certainly some of the most beautiful nudes I have ever seen. However on first viewing most people will be quite shocked. To some it is the epitome of child porn. However I disagree. The actions of the models are all very natural.

This book routinely sells on e-bay and Bibliofind for as much as three or four hundred dollars. This puts it out of the price range of all but serious collectors. Even so I'd say it's a good investment. It is so far out of the ordinary that I can't imagine the value will ever drop.

"Show Me!", by Will McBride, NY, St. Martin's Press, 1975, LCCCN 74-30507 (pbk), 176 pgs., large format 8.5" x 12" is a book of photographs with captions by McBride plus significant informative explanatory text by Dr. Helga Fleischhauer-Hardt who discusses how to best present these explicit photographs and the book's sexual content to children and the appropriate ages to do so -- and Helga then appropriately delves into the issues of breast feeding, adolesence, puberal changes, menses, sexual anatomies, pregnancy, masturbation, contraception, sexual behavioral disturbances and veneral disease.

First published in Germany, 1974, -- it became a national best seller. Promoted as "A Picture Book of Sex for Children and Parents", I fear today's society will be inclined to view the book as permissive if not overly licentious. The B/W photographs of genitalia, etc. are explicit and encompass age groups from the very young to adult -- pre-puberal erections and some genital touchings between the sexes is depicted. I am not aware of any book comparable to this illustrated primer that fills the needs of sexual education so well -- but I do recall the apprehension and fury when this book was first marketed, a time before AIDS was discovered and before teen-age pregnancies flourished.

Knowing many parents strenuously object to having public schools provide sex education for their children, this book might be one these parents could utilize to provide illustrated factual information. This book does not mention the bird and the bees.

This book is one of the most talked about banned books for children.

Published in 1975, it was fairly recently banned in Seattle for it's photographs of young children engaging in sex play.

The book is well known by pedophiles and has been used by them to justify their assulting of children.

That being said it is also a valuable resourse for parents of only children to show their children what the other gender looks like without their clothes.

The book also contains photographs of adults making love including a lesbian couple.

Warning: The book also contains a photograph of a boy and girl urinating.

Very hard to find. The Vancouver Public Library used to have two copies, one was destroyed and the other copy is in a special collection.

This book teaches the child the truth. If parents that think their children must know the facts from them this book is the best tool to use. I rate this book excellent material for children that have parents that love them. Should parents let their children learn from the unloving language on the streets? Children need to know what is what as early as appropriate because they are born with body parts that make them sexual beings. I wish my parents had educated me earlier. In fact They didnot teach me anything about this vital part of life. I learned about these things in vulgar ways. I will always have the opinion that chidren are born as infants (not angels)! If you refuse to teach your children the truth then you most likely will have a unpleasant fact to face. Abortion or telling your uneducated chidren to get out of your home.
Best Regards

I gave this book five stars for its high aesthetic quality and because it succeeds so well in its mission - that mission being to bring lovely and yet very graphic black and white photos of basic sexual activity to children.

Let me say right now: if you are not of a 1970s hippie mindset when it comes to sex education, this book is NOT for your family. Period. Don't buy it. Especially not for over a hundred bucks.

But if you are, if you feel the best way to introduce your elementary school aged kids to sex is to show it to them, but don't want to go to jail for doing the deed in front of them yourself, then go for it!

Another thing you may want to consider, though, is the book is pretty aggressive in its ideology. It presents the conservative view (that we oughtn't to be putting sex on display for young kids) as a ridiculous notion only held by ugly old people. And that we should laugh at them. This might have been considered cool in the '70s, but 21st century parents might feel that such indoctrination is a little out of step with the current culture. Certainly the behavior that would result would be.

Would I show this book to my kid? With its close up of a young woman's lips about to kiss the head of a penis? Well, certainly not at the age for which it was originally intended. I'd say 15 or 16 is closer to the mark. (But of course, by then, most kids have had unsupervised access to the internet and seen Japanese porn of people doing things that you and I don't even want to think about!)

I first saw the book Show Me at the age of four. I was neither shocked or offended as I viewed it with pure innocence. Within 10 minutes I knew what sex was. Sexuality issues I later developed were not the result of viewing this book, but rather interactions I had with other people. However, it can be a very odd book for an adult to own. It may either say the parent is very progressive or a possible pedophile. I strongly believe their are two very distinct sides of the fence in this matter, one which is pure of mind and one which is very dangerous. When it comes from a loving parent, this book is a straight forward, honest approach to teaching sexuality.

Consider how your peers would react to purchasing a graphic representation of children. The reaction may range from mockery to computer hacking in a vigilante manner.