Customer Reviews

What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: Revised Edition

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

 

 

Previous reviews have knocked this book for presenting anatomical drawings, medical descriptions, and even slang - assumably for teaching too much. While I understand the fear a parent feels, I believe the presentation is appropriate. Further it seems important that an adolescent know these terms. They will be used by teachers and schoolmates increasingly from Junior High forward. An adolescent who does not know them will be left to their own imagination. An adolescent who has been taught the terms with the help of caring parent will feel safe. Further by going through the book together a parent can teach the child what terms are appropriate and that sexuality is something to be respected, not feared. (Parents, please don't make sexuality a frightening taboo - it will just drive your child to experience it inappropriately.)

As another review points out this book is somewhat academically written. I believe this is because the book is designed for a parent and adolescent to go through together. I would suggest presenting parts of this book beginning as early as 10 but no later than 13 - as the parent feels the child is ready for the information. There is a companion workbook that is written more in an adolescent's language - for them to read alone.

You don't read a book like this to your kid, you give it to your kid and let him go off and read it himself and ask you questions later if he wants. My mom got me this book when I was a lad and I read it cover to cover. It was exactly what I needed.

I remember this part of my life well, so let me give you a little advice. Boys entering this part of their lives are best given a book like this and then LEFT ALONE to read it on their own terms. DON'T be overbearing and try to have some long-winded discussion with him about sexual topics. Trust me, he will get embarrassed and then he will hate you for prying into something that he needs to figure out separately from you (with the help of this book, which is great. In fact, I would think about getting him more than one book. Something on relationships, perhaps, when he's a few years older.) If you overstep your bounds, he will just think, "God, this is so terrible. I wish this horrible awkward train-wreck of a conversation was over already." Then he'll tune you out, defeating the purpose of the conversation and replacing it with awkwardness and resentment. If you have to give him "The Talk," just keep it REALLY BRIEF, and hand them this book at the end of it.

By picking up some education on the subject from this author, he's getting it from someone who is a disinterested third party, someone whose expectations he doesn't have to live up to, et cetera. The person who wrote this book isn't going to read over his shoulder about things that he naturally finds embarrassing. It's a safe environment. If your boy is reading this book by himself, he doesn't have to worry about being judged. He doesn't have to keep his guard up, or worry about any social considerations. He doesn't have to demure to the author because he doesn't want to hurt the author's feelings. See how perfect it is? It's the best possible way for him to learn about this. Just make it clear that you're giving him space on this issue, and that you will answer any questions he has. Obviously you don't want to turn him loose on the world without supervision, but this is one of those cases where it will greatly benefit him to know that he has the time and space to figure this out on his own. If he wants to know something, and he knows he can ask you about it without it turning into a big obnoxious lecture, he'll be more likely to ask.

You want to give him some advice? Tell him to stay away from attention whores and crazies, and not to invest his entire happiness into whether some other person loves him or not. You'll be doing him a huge favor.

The purpose of the book for me was to read it to a 10 year old boy, to help him understand what was happening to his body and to explain sex and sexual feelings. It is written by someone who taught the subject and rather than have it as a readable book, it's more instructional and explains the author's way of teaching the subject part of the time and then it seems to become more of a book you'd read to a child entering puberty. Some areas are good and detailed and some things are written in a corny way. I would rate the book on a scale of 1 to 10 as maybe a 3. What I've had to do is read a chapter first, and then scan it as I'm explaining it to my 10 year old boy. It does cover the territory.

I bought this book years ago to help me talk to my teens. It does cover slang words (but yes -- as embarrassing as that is just reading them aloud made us laugh & took the sting/scariness out of talking about such things). It is appropriate for a child entering puberty who needs to know that his/her parents are willing to have a frank discussion. You can concentrate of the topics that are of interest to the child (ie. most boys are not going to spend to much time of drawings of hymens). It discusses the fears that some kids have as their bodies change and who knew these were issues esp. if you are the opposite sex (ie. boys being afraid they might be turning into girls with changes in their breast tissue) -- and it has actual stories written by the folks who had these fears. Without this book, I would have had a hard time developing an openness about sex with my kids. They are older now...15/17, but neither is sexually active that I know of. I am confident though that if/when they are ready, they understand they have an open discussion if they should choose to talk about it and they have the information they need to keep themselves safe & start to formulate their own beliefs about their sexuality. I think these are great books.

I thought this was a book I could share with my 10 year old son as a reference guide to learn about what changes he can expect and about how babies are made.
I was wrong! There's no way a preteen, or teenager for that matter, boy needs to know all the information detailed in this book! It's over the top with unnecessary, if not, inappropriate graphic drawings of labeled external male & female body parts. (I'm not a prude, but why would a 5th grade boy need to see drawings of the different types of female hymens??? -- ridiculous!)
It also has lists of all the slang, crude nicknames for male and female body parts. I wasn't planning on teaching him the "p" word and the "c" word -- this book does.
It does cover things like acne, body hair, perspiration, spontaneous erections -- that's great stuff boys should know about.
How to measure your masculine parts (complete with diagrams) -- why is that necessary??
I was hoping to gently ease into the discussions I need to have with my son. The unnecessary information is so in-your-face blunt that I'd have to edit out about 75% before I'd let a child or teenager read it.

I wanted my son to have some type of sex education before entering into middle school. His school no longer teaches the course to boys only girls. So I purchased this book recommended by a teacher at his school. We are reading the book together. He was a little embarrassed at first but now enjoys reading the book and asks questions. I want him to know the truth about sex before going to middle school. God knows what false information he would hear there. A great book and very informative. I think all men of all ages should read this.

Too Much Information!! This books is great for parental reference but has more information than I feel comfortable having my son, age 11, read.

I decided that my son who was already beginning puberty and body changes need some material that he could keep to refer to in private. I said in another review that nothing takes the place of open communication with your child but sometimes it is good for them to read and have some privacy about this subject. I chose this book because it was accurate facts about body changes without stepping into morality views that I did not agree with.

This is an easy-to-read, comprehensive book that I intend to give to my 11 year-old boy after I finish reading it. I recommend the parent read it before giving it to the son, because the book covers a lot and in a fair degree of detail. As a mother, I have learned things about male puberty and sexuality that I never knew before, and it is good to know what the book says so you can be prepared to discuss it with your son. I am happy with this book and would recommend it to others.

I read some of this book last night and it is very educational. I got it for my 7.5 year old son, in hopes of him learning something and opening him up to ask questions about his body (he's been curious lately). Not only does it describe what's going on with the male body but it also dabbles in to the female body, so they aren't completely clueless. Really great book!! Highly recommended!