4.22

5

Jun 30, 2007

Ok, here is what happened: in hopes of avoiding any awkward talks, my mother dealt with her two pubescent children by buying us books. My brother got What's Happening To My Body Book For Boys, I got What's Happening to My Body Book For Girls. We both read our respective gifts avidly. Then we switched.

Lemme tell you, bad line drawings circa 1980 have a funny effect on impressionable youths. I am still a little scared about what you guys got going on down there.

3

Nov 14, 2007

I read this while I was growing up.

Its frank and informative without being boring. It's useful if you happen to be a young teenager.

Includes many helpful illustrations for those visually minded.

3

Aug 26, 2013

Kids are getting the information from disreputable sources, so in light of that, I'd rather they get it from a decent, if graphic and straightforward text source. At least this information is correct. This is good and appropriately geared toward middle school students - but parents know their kids best, should preview this before handing it to kids and if only part of the book works for their purposes, then there's no rules saying they have to use the whole thing. I for one think it's a good Kids are getting the information from disreputable sources, so in light of that, I'd rather they get it from a decent, if graphic and straightforward text source. At least this information is correct. This is good and appropriately geared toward middle school students - but parents know their kids best, should preview this before handing it to kids and if only part of the book works for their purposes, then there's no rules saying they have to use the whole thing. I for one think it's a good idea to have honest, straightforward and judgement free texts out there for adolescents to use...instead of shady internet sources. ...more

5

Mar 21, 2016

This is a great book geared to boys age 11 and up (younger if they've begun puberty or are interested). Puberty is explained in age appropriate, matter-of-fact way. There are dozens of illustrations mixed in with the text to answer most questions. All the standard info is covered here. There is a short chapter at the end about what girls experience in puberty.

Was happy to see homosexuality and bisexuality included in the dating section. Would have been nice to have another section that has a This is a great book geared to boys age 11 and up (younger if they've begun puberty or are interested). Puberty is explained in age appropriate, matter-of-fact way. There are dozens of illustrations mixed in with the text to answer most questions. All the standard info is covered here. There is a short chapter at the end about what girls experience in puberty.

Was happy to see homosexuality and bisexuality included in the dating section. Would have been nice to have another section that has a less binary view of gender. ...more

4

Jan 11, 2009

I bought this book for Tyler. Since I know my hubby was not about to have "the talk" with him. We are reading it together and I am really happy with the fact that it explains things that I never had to go through. Tyler seems to really have an understanding and has lots of questions (which is sometimes uncomfortable), but the book really helps.

0

Jan 07, 2016

I've found out new things and I think it would be great for the target audience. I know it is way to early for us (baby is not even born yet but we do know it is going to be a boy) but it was on sale and I wanted to read it to know how to deal with different questions when they will arise. Its target is 9-15 year old boys and their parents:)

5

Apr 03, 2013

Maybe not for the elementary classroom but possibly a parent recommendation. It seems most children are getting their information from youtube or another internet source. Having this book lying around may spark a boys interest and inform a parent of their own child's development.

5

Feb 18, 2013

Great resource. We've already covered the basics with our son, so I think we'll hold off and get into this book when he's 13-ish when more of these changes and questions will be more relevant. It's a lot of information!!

3

Mar 18, 2014

Good solid information -- plus some interesting facts about circumcised vs. uncircumcised penises.

5

Jun 28, 2015

An excellent book about puberty aimed at pre-teen boys. It's explicit and openly discusses issues that come up with puberty, so more conservative families might not like this, but I think this information is necessary. It not only covers the stages of puberty for boys in great detail (including illustrations), there's a section that reviews stages of puberty in girls. The book is grounded, fact-based discussion about all the various ways that puberty might get talked about at school amongst An excellent book about puberty aimed at pre-teen boys. It's explicit and openly discusses issues that come up with puberty, so more conservative families might not like this, but I think this information is necessary. It not only covers the stages of puberty for boys in great detail (including illustrations), there's a section that reviews stages of puberty in girls. The book is grounded, fact-based discussion about all the various ways that puberty might get talked about at school amongst peers, and corrects common misconceptions, as well as puts to rest fears about being "abnormal" for not developing at the same rate as other boys. I recommend parents review this before handing it over to their sons, and be open to answering questions after your child has read it - if they have any. It's pretty thorough. we treated this as a follow-up book for our son. We gave him less detailed books aimed at younger boys a couple of years ago when he started to become aware of and curious about just puberty. Now that the basics of biological reproduction and stages of development have been covered at school, it became clear it was time to fill in the gaps. ...more

5

Oct 23, 2012

Read this with my twelve year old son and we both loved it! It helped turn what could have been an awkward situation into a fun, interesting, and a great bonding experience.

5

Oct 16, 2017

Perfect book to start conversation with my kids. I bought the one for boys for my son and the girls for my daughter. I read them both first. Then took a Saturday and had them each read their own. Then I had them switch books and read the others. After that we sat together and talked about what we'd read. It was fantastic.

4

May 14, 2013

Really good book about puberty for boys. Graphic and detailed, it does lay it all out there, but in a very matter-of-fact and easily readable way. I didn't love that all the slang was included (but I don't love slang anyway, and I guess I'd rather him hear it from me and understand what it means and NOT USE IT than not). Geared toward middle schoolers but thought I'd preview. This is probably one that I'll purchase so we can continue our discussions.

4

Nov 05, 2014

My daughter's pediatrician recommended the corresponding book for girls, so I decided to read them both. I will not be having my son read it yet, but I did think it was well-written and useful for boys who have already started developing and experiencing signs of puberty.

"What's Happening to My Body?" covers topics such as male and female physical development, puberty, growth spurts, romantic and sexual feelings. The author is clear that some people have different beliefs about certain aspects My daughter's pediatrician recommended the corresponding book for girls, so I decided to read them both. I will not be having my son read it yet, but I did think it was well-written and useful for boys who have already started developing and experiencing signs of puberty.

"What's Happening to My Body?" covers topics such as male and female physical development, puberty, growth spurts, romantic and sexual feelings. The author is clear that some people have different beliefs about certain aspects of sexuality, but presents the information in a straight-forward manner. Parents can provide the context of their own morals to their children as they discuss the topics together. ...more

4

Jun 23, 2018

I read this book as an assignment for a class on banned and challenged books. My desire is to teach middle school and I figured a refresher on puberty would be a good idea. Depending on what exactly I teach, this may end up being a reference book on my bookshelf that I could loan out. If I teach elementary, I may grab it for like 5th grade, but I felt that the target audience was boys aged 10-15.

While the subject matter was not something I enjoy reading about, this book presented it in a I read this book as an assignment for a class on banned and challenged books. My desire is to teach middle school and I figured a refresher on puberty would be a good idea. Depending on what exactly I teach, this may end up being a reference book on my bookshelf that I could loan out. If I teach elementary, I may grab it for like 5th grade, but I felt that the target audience was boys aged 10-15.

While the subject matter was not something I enjoy reading about, this book presented it in a rather painless way. The writer is a former teacher, and I learned so much about teaching from this book. There are quite a few anecdotes of her early teaching days, some quite funny, some quite embarrassing. I found myself thinking about how I would teach the material in a class. While I felt this book was more intended for boys and their parents, as a future teacher this material is exceedingly important. I believe this wholeheartedly because we need to meet students where they are. And sometimes meeting them where they are means meeting hormonal, smelly, and awkward students and telling them it’s going to be ok.

In today’s world, even less than 10 years since I was in middle school health, so much more is online. And as a bonus, more and more children have smartphones. I only wish the book talked about pornography and some of the research with that, because 90% of 9-11 year olds have been exposed to it.

Altogether this book is a great resource for boys and their families, and, well, anyone who works with boys. This book does find itself on the list of frequently challenged books. This tends to happen in more conservative areas. While I do believe parents and guardians should take control of teaching their children about growth and development, kids and teens will find things out on their own. Just look at the pregnancy rate in schools that are abstinence based sexual education.

4/5 stars.
...more

5

Mar 28, 2017

I almost teared up seeing the cover.

Buy this for your daughter. Or you.

I'll update later.

3/29/17

0

Jul 12, 2018

Radiolab asked listeners for their sex ed recommendations.

Ben, a Radiolab listener, says, "It gave me a lot of information that I wasn't comfortable asking my mom about. Also, it had some great slang terms for genitalia that it taught my friends and me...not sure the latest edition will still have this, but it was one of our favorite parts."

3

Feb 19, 2010

Way too intense for my 11 year-old, or for me as his friend and babysitter. I noticed she has a book for younger boys, I'm going to check that out instead. I have ti say that it would be a pretty studious teen who would actually read this text-intensive book, but it certainly has a lot of good information.

3

Feb 04, 2009

An intelligent, helpful guide for kids entering puberty. It explains body maturation for both boys and girls bodies-a good thing since kids are curious about what happens to each. One complaint: the book tends to downplay the embarrasment and discomfort of puberty, which is why I only gave it 3 stars. Still, a useful guide for kids and their parents.

5

Apr 12, 2009

I think this book is helpfull for boys that are learning about them self. The wrote this book with information about puberty and your privite stuff. (you know what I mean!)It also has info about girls. The way I LIked the author doing this book is that she asked some ? and responed back. I think ya guys now this book.

0

Dec 20, 2007

i dont like this book at all especially since im a boy and NOT GAY! no offence to the author but its kinda sick and perverted.i mean how did you learn all thise gross information did you look down a girls skirt and look up a boys ass. EWWWWWWWWW!

4

May 17, 2009

Read for class and actually learned some interesting tidbits...