Nathaniel Fried
Educating your children about puberty is never an easy thing. Luckily for you, we have gathered together suggestions of books (as recommended by experts and parents) for both parents and children to guide you through the ever challenging ‘talk’.
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#1 For Mothers + Daughters: Enter The Red Circle: A Charting Mandala
This coloring book allows women to chart their menstrual cycle, which is all-year round. Many women, including mothers, (which included me) were never taught about menstrual cycles. This book will help you understand what your body was telling you, both the good and the bad and the normal.
This workbook allows women to finally get up close and personal with their body and helps us understand the many nuances that would otherwise be just speculative: pain, mood swings, and being intimately familiar with the changes in our body.
It is also special to me because, Stasha Washburn, who is the Period Coach, used this system to help her understand why she would have these severely painful periods that no doctor could help her find the cure to.
She started charting her menstrual cycle, changed her diet and various other things to finally return to pain-free periods. A painful period is considered normal because more than 70% of women suffer from some form of PMS. It is, however, not normal and is considered normal only because there was so little known about it, and so little research on this issue.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributor: Sudiksha Joshi, Ph.D
Company: wearealwayslearning.com
#2 For Kids 10+ : It’s Perfectly Normal
This book gives just the right amount of information for tweens - enough to answer their questions, but not so much it overwhelms or scares them.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributor: Crystal Paschal
Company: itsfundamental.info
#3 Secret Boys’ Business + Secret Girls’ Business
These books deal primarily with the physical and (some) emotional changes which the body and mind go through, and less with the sexual act. This is why it is such a gem. Too many times, the two are intertwined, and this one is not. Hair, pimples, body odor, and other perks of adolescence are all included!
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Secret Boys' Business:
Secret Girls' Business:
Contributor: Caleb Backe
Company: mapleholistics.com
#4 For Parents & Children: Help Your Kids with Adolescence
Our oldest is 11 so we're covering some of the basics with her. Some of it is too advanced but we want her aware of the changes in her body and what to expect so she isn't scared. We're giving her the talk doled out over time.
This book is awesome. It's published by Penguin Random House and several doctors contributed to it. It's colorful, it's got teen hints, parent hints, myth busters, danger alerts, and interesting background information.
It's in several sections so it's easy to go in stages and there is a comprehensive index. We've also let her know the book is on the shelf if she's curious about the other stuff and wants to look things up privately. Great book.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributor: Cat Smith
Company: catsmith.net | PenguinRandomHouse.com
#5 12 – 13 Year Olds: Puberty Boy + Puberty Girl
This set of books goes into greater detail regarding the nature of sex and sexuality. In Girl, there is more of focus on menstruation and emotional changes which ensue. In Boy, there is more of a focus on the body, and there is even a section on STIs. Illustrations, diagrams, and text are all used. This set is more for 12-13 year-olds and up.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Puberty Boy:
Puberty Girl:
Contributor: Caleb Backe
Company: mapleholistics.com
#6 For Teenagers: What’s Happening to My Body? Book For Girls + Book For Boys
This is an older set (first published in 1983) but it still has its charm, AND it has been revised since. It is a book which is also meant more for early teens, and perhaps less for 11-year-olds, though it is completely dependent on the kid’s level of maturity. It deals with changes in the body’s organs, with new feelings, hair, diet, growth, acne, and also with the issue of puberty in the opposite sex.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls:
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys:
Contributor: Caleb Backe
Company: mapleholistics.com
#7 What’s Happening to Me? For Boys + For Girls
This set, which is also gender-specific and gets into the nitty-gritty using text, illustrations, and pictures of all sorts. It goes into more detail regarding the sexual and emotional side of things, which is also why it is more appropriate someone who is going through it, rather than someone who is merely curious about it.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
What’s Happening to Me? For Boys:
What’s Happening to Me? For Girls:
Contributor: Caleb Backe
Company: mapleholistics.com
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