What's This Site All About?

Sex is a difficult subject to talk about, especially with your kids! And yet it's also one of the most important. This site presents a review of some of the best literature available to help parents teach their children about sex. It is intended to help you decide which books are right for your family, without spending a fortune in the process.

What's Not Covered

The books discussed here are generally aimed at younger children (under 12) who have not begun or are just beginning puberty, rather than teens or young adults. Some of the literature reviewed may still be useful for teens and parents, especially if you haven't discussed sex with your kids before.

There are several excellent sex education books available which are written specifically for Christian families, but they are not included in this review. Try searching for "sex instruction for children" and "Christianity" at Amazon.com, the online bookstore.

The Books

This site looks at three types of books:

• Picture Books. These books are written for preschool and young elementary school children. The content centers around reproduction and gender differences between boys and girls.

• Discussion Books. These are more detailed, with content and reading level appropriate for older elementary children and young teens. Topics include physiological differences between boys and girls, changes at puberty for boys and girls, masturbation, birth control, emotions surrounding puberty and sexual relationships, and sexually transmitted diseases. These books vary in reading level, and may be appropriate for curious younger children as well.

• Books for Parents. These are written to help parents with their part of the sex education process. They go through a child's development stage by stage, and help parents understand what kinds of questions and experiences their children might have at each stage. Even for parents who already feel comfortable talking about sex with their kids, these books are excellent.

The Most Important Resource is You

No book can be a substitute for parental support and guidance! Parents should read these books with their children, and supplement their reading with discussions.

Who Am I?

My name's Maggi Rohde, and I'm a graduate student at the University of Michigan, studying library and information science. This study was done and this web page was created as a term project in the fall of 1997 for a Young Children's Literature class. I'm certainly not an authority on parenting or sex education, but I look forward to being a parent and a children's librarian, and I hope this web page is useful to you. These reviews are entirely my opinion, based on observation and the reading I have done; you may have different opinions. I'd love to hear them! If you have comments, criticism or praise, or if you have positive or negative comments about any of the books mentioned on this site, you're welcome to email me at maggi@intranet.org.