The What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents and Sons

by Lynda Madaras, Area Madaras, Simon Sullivan

Book Overview

Everything preteen and teen boys need to know about their changing bodies and feelingsWritten by an experienced educator and her daughter in a reassuring and down-to earth style, The "What's Happening... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557044430
• ISBN13: 9781557044433
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Newmarket Press
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Great book to share a difficult subject

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.

A Solid Book for a Parent and Adolescent to go Through Together

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.

A helpful resource

While no book on this subject is going to cover everything exactly the way you might prefer, this book does a very good job of covering a variety of topics related to sexual development. The material is presented in an easy-to-read, factual manner. After reviewing the book myself, I gave it to my 12 year old son, who looked at me as if to say "I know this stuff already". Yet the next day, he thanked me for giving him the book and said it had cleared up some misunderstandings he had. We were then able to talk about some of his questions and impressions from the book.

Experience.

My parents bought this book for me when I was becoming a teenager, and it helped a lot. Reading the book was a lot more comfortable than talking with my parents would have been. The personal ancedotes scattered throughout help to make the reader feel "normal". I'd recommend this to any parent, or just a kid who's curious.

All Moms should read this book!

I had no problem teaching my girls about the birds and the bees. But when it came time to talk to my son about erections, wet-dreams, etc. I was lost. I read this book first to learn all the stuff I didn't know about boys development and then shared it with my son when he was ready. Gives you a good basis for conversation. Another book I recently read that you'll find really helpful: Perfect Parenting (Dictionary of 1000 Parenting Tips) by Elizabeth Pantley