Recently, I went with my kids to the playground... There, we met a mom who was breastfeeding her baby. As soon as my boys saw it, they were fascinated... Since then, they started asking questions... "How are babies made? Why do they drink milk from their mom's breast? Did we drink milk from your breast? Will you show us?"!
Although I answer them honestly, I feel that the time has come to find a book suitable for their age (five years old). My goal is to answer most of their questions in a simple and understandable way, without embarrassment or wrong answers.
I ended up choosing this book, which is truly excellent!
It is bright, with simple and clear sketches that accompany equally simple yet explanatory texts. There are answers to the most basic children's questions, such as: "What are the differences between boys and girls?", "Where do babies come from?" and "How are babies born?"!
But apart from these "first" questions that little children have, the book also touches on other topics, such as puberty, love, different forms of family, and divorce.
It even includes useful advice for awkward parents who don't know what to answer or believe that such discussions will upset their children.
We opened the book with my kids and read several pages together... But I left out the chapters about how adults make babies... As well as how babies are made... Not because it's a "difficult" topic for me, I just believe that my kids are still young and won't understand.
A very interesting and useful chapter is the one that explains which parts of our body we keep private, when we allow someone to touch us, and in which places.
Children from a young age learn information about their bodies, relationships, and sex. Often, they secretly discuss with their friends or watch something related on TV. Personally, I prefer them to learn from me whatever they want, rather than have wrong answers and misinformation. I want them to speak openly to me, without shame about any question they have... I believe that this way I will protect them from wrong impressions and they will always have the courage to ask me whatever they want.
For many parents, it's easier to say, "Let's talk about bees and flowers" than to say "Let's talk about sex"! So the book's title is very apt and polite!
Because the subject is strong and serious, I would have liked an equally strong and catchy cover. This one is weak and uninteresting!
Nevertheless, it is one of the best books to answer many of our children's questions about the human body, relationships, and sex!