Books about the human body, reproduction...

[Happiestever]

Please recommend some good books for my children 3 and 5 ( well a 1 year old too) about how the body functions, menstruation, where babies come from and discussing these topics with children.

[pbjmama]

I'm sure you will get good recommendations on books to read but I like to just anatomy books for my kids for pictures. I find my kids are really interested in the details of how the body looks, inside and out. I provide my own commentary :)

[LynnS6]

I liked "It's not the Stork" for that age. We've just bought the next two books in the series "It's so amazing" (for ages 7-9) and "It's perfectly normal" (ages 10+).

We also had a couple of books about how babies grow, I don't remember which of these were the best:

When you were inside Mommy

How you were born

(We got a ton of books out from the library, and these are 2 that I remember.)

[St. Margaret]

It's not the stork is great!

[NiteNicole]

Thank you for asking this question!  I have a five year old and I always thought I would just answer her questions as she asked them and not shame her for being curious.  Well...she's never had a lot of questions and when I give her the answers (in five year old terms) she just thinks I'm making things up.  A few nights ago she was watching America's Funniest Home Videos and some guy got (surprise) kicked in the crotch.  She says, HA!  He got hit in is vagina!  SIGH.  And also what?  We have had this discussion.  So we had it again.  She said, "oh, Mom.  You're just so silly."   Maybe books will give the facts more authority, because apparently I'm just a big joker making up stuff to make her laugh.

[MamaMunchkin]

My 6-yr old - "learnt" - about human reproduction from this book, First Human Body Encyclopedia by DK.  Not very detailed, it talks about it in a few pages only like anything else it covers.  It's a good book if you're looking for breadth not depth - and the pictures are beautiful. 

[meemee]

are they asking questions? what kind of questions are they asking. the knowledge you offer 

do you think the same book will cover the 3 year old and 5 year old?

i didnt buy really any books. i had a medical dictionary. dd REALLY wanted to know. even at 3 (i had to sit with her and describe how we died, how our body shut down) dd found the human body fascinating and always wanted to know how the different systems worked. 

dd favourite series were the magic school bus series and her fav. episode was on digestion. that was her base. once she got that in magic school bus style, the reproduc. system, respitory, etc became easy to explain with the illustrated medical dict. no pictures. just illustrations.

by 5 dd's need for info had been assauged and so her focus on hte human body for all her years were put to rest. we now talk about the act of sex and the emotional impact and why societal tabboos. 

[beanma]

"It's Not the Stork" is fantastic for ages 4 and up. Below that there are some books about babies that might be appropriate, but I can't give enough thumbs up to "It's Not The Stork!

[laohaire]

I got It's Not the Stork! from the library for DD. She's one of those kids who doesn't ask any questions about that stuff, but I didn't want to wait or make a big deal out of it. I thought it was well done, and DD was VERY enthused about it. We get books all the time from the library, but her enthusiasm for that one far surpassed any others.

[Disco Infiltrator]

I have to second the DK First Human Body Encyclopedia. We bought it for DS at about 3.5 and he has devoured it.

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by Disco Infiltrator 

I have to second the DK First Human Body Encyclopedia. We bought it for DS at about 3.5 and he has devoured it.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, is there a good second Human Body encyclopedia? Dd is ready for more detail/information than in this book.

[onyxravnos]

i like the usborne slip-flap body book.  it covers  digestion, the five senses and a basic how babies are made section. I WISH their was more but the couple it has are fantastic. between that and the picture book Hello Baby bu jenni overend ti civer how babies come out i haven't had to go any deeper on the how baby is made with the 7 & 4 yr olds.

[sugarlumpkin]

Another vote for Its Not The Stork here. I have always talked openly (though age appropriately) with my son (currently 4) about the human body and its functions, but Its Not The Stork had all the reproductive stuff (well, nothing on menstruation) in one place. He found it in the library on his own! We read it cover-to-cover in an hour at home. He has not asked to read it again, but looks at it himself and asks questions about particular pages.

[laohaire]

I tried "When you were inside Mommy" and it was fine, but very basic. Not much in the way of any type of details. I think it was a nice book, but for 2-3 year olds. Mine is 5 and she enjoyed reading it with me but didn't learn anything.