DD wants a book about puberty--recommendations?

[mum2sarah]

My older DD is 9 1/2 and a big bookworm.  We've talked openly about the changes she'll soon be experiencing as she hits puberty, but she also wants me to purchase her a book on the topic.  With a newborn in the house, it's hard to go on outings to a bookstore but I don't want to buy a book online without knowing what it's like.  For example, I found one on Barnes & Noble entitled "What's Happening to My Body?" and it let me preview the toc and list of illustrations, where I found that fig 3 is called "circumcision," but I couldn't look at the actual illustration.  That sent up a red flags to me because I wouldn't want to buy a book if it condones circumcision (which is unclear, but clearly a topic addressed by the book).  DD is well above grade-level in her reading skills.  Anyone know of any AP-friendly puberty type books for girls that would be good for a pre-teen of advanced reading level?

[LynnS6]

We've got "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex, and Sexual Health" I think the previous book in the 'series' "It's So Amazing" does cover the fact that some boys are circumsized and some are not. You can't get away from the fact that some boys are, indeed, circumcized. But they don't promote it, they just cover the fact.

I've heard good things about the Care and Keeping of You: the Body Book for Girls and My Body, My Self for Girls, but I haven't actually read them. Dd (age 7) has read "It's perfectly normal" cover to cover. Ds (age 10), won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. I think I'm going to have to sic dh on him.

[mum2sarah]

Ok thanks.  Yes, I'm ok with a factual presentation reflecting that some boys are circ'ed while others not, but I just wouldn't want to inadvertently purchase something that might be skewed in the pro-circ direction, which is difficult to tell without actually looking at the book.  I'll take a look at the ones you mention. This made me laugh:

Ds (age 10), won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. I think I'm going to have to sic dh on him.

Maybe girls are more apt to read such things without feeling embarrassed? I was actually surprised that DD requested a book of her own accord...

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by mum2sarah 

Maybe girls are more apt to read such things without feeling embarrassed? I was actually surprised that DD requested a book of her own accord...

my DDs were much more open to this topic at age 9 than they are as teens. At this point, the sex books have to be stored in my room because if their friends found out we have books about sex they would DIE. I'm pretty sure these exact same books were read at slumber parties when they were in upper elementary school.

It's Perfectly Normal and the others in that series are all really super. Very factual on what circumcised and uncirc. penises look like, with the emphasis that all penises are normal.

[mum2sarah]

ah so age might have something to do with it, too.  I guess I should embrace this window of opportunity where she's interested in reading about the topic.  Better to have her informed now via a factual book than later through rumours and possibly-ill-informed talk amongst peers.

[MJB]

We have "It's Perfectly Normal" as well. 

[Mummoth]

I bought The Girl's Body Book and The Boy's Body Book. They each only talk about the one sex. They cover things like stinky feet and moodiness, there's a section on big changes like if your parents divorce or a close friend moves away. It doesn't give information on sex, which I would have been okay with, but I figure I'll be buying other books in the future anyway. These ones are aimed at 8 - 12 year olds. There is no  mention of circumcision. My kids both brought them out to the kitchen table and read them together, killing themselves laughing about crotch hair and bras.

[beanma]

I second Lynn's recommendations. We have "It's So Amazing" which is the younger one in the "It's Perfectly Normal" sequence. We've had it for several years and if I was going to buy one now I would probably by "It's Perfectly Normal", but they're both good. There's an even younger one, too, "It's Not the Stork". Those books are all great. They mostly focus on where babies come from and do get into real details.

If she's like my dd1, though, she will LOVE, "The Care and Keeping of You". It's all girl-focused so there's a lot of info in there about starting your period and other hygiene issues, like getting greasier hair with puberty, deodorant, etc. Dd1 (10) loves it so much she doesn't want to share it with Dd2 (almost 8), but I make her share it anyway!

I think "It's So Amazing" answered her questions about reproduction, but "The Care and Keeping of You" answered her questions about what would happen to her body as she grew older and got to be a ***teenager***!

[mum2sarah]

Get this irony:  So I decided to get her The Care and Keeping of You, and I figured I'd order the booklet Passages from the GladRags website since I'd like her to know there are other mentrual options besides disposable pads and tampons.  So I ordered these two things yesterday, and then shortly afterwards, DD1 begs me to go to the thrift store, which is a short 3 block walk from our house.  Since it doesn't involve driving, I agreed, but told her we'd just bought her a boatload of clothes from the thrift store for back to school, so she should limit herself to games, books, and videos.  She starts out in the book section, and what does she find amongst the limited eclectic mix of books but What's Happening to My Body? which was the original book I'd been considering.  So I page through it, and the section on circumcision was pretty perfect--fairly neutral, or if anything slightly pro-intact, since it says at one point that most doctors no longer feel there are important medical reasons to circ.  Then I flip to the section about periods, and, lo and behold, it even has a section about cloth pads!  So for 50 cents I bought it, but thought, geez, I could have just saved myself about $20 LOL!  And it's just so weird because I'd never seen any books like that at this thrift store--they literally only have one bookcase full of kids/teens books, and the majority of them are fiction... But anyway, for anyone else looking at books like this, I think Madaras' "What's Happening to My Body?"  looks like quite a good one, too.

[Bekka]

Well, I haven't read all of those, but we like the Care and Keeping of You.  It is the best product put out by American Girl, even though we like lots of their other stuff.  I don't consider it wasted money.

[Shantimama]

My kids really liked Meg Hickling's books.

[julie128]

My ten year old daughter likes The Period Book.  It's pretty beaten up from how many times she's read it. 

[andromedajulie]

I highly recommend the Robie Harris books.