Books on Puberty

What is Happening to Me? is good. Also, you should know about the class at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital called
Heart to Heart. It is a two session class for boys 10-14 and their fathers (also there's one for girls/mothers)all about puberty. My daughter loved it.

Hi V.,

There are some really great websited on puberity for parents and teens. I find this approach alot better then reading a book to you son, as it allows him to engage with the website himself and is lest embarassing for them. I have a 13 year old and a 16 and found the website to be much more comfortable for them.

www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Health/Puberty
health.discovery.com
health.discovery.com/centers/teen/puberty/puberty.html
www.keepkidshealthy.com/adolescent/puberty.html
parentingteens.about.com/od/preteenspuberty

there are interactive tools that give information to kids with pictures and words that help them to understand their own body changes.

I think both you and your son will enjoy these!

Hope this works for you!

blessings and Happy New Year,

J.

Two Moms Catering

The PAMF preteen site has some great resources, and is a safe site for him to spend time on: http://www.pamf.org/preteen/parents/resources.html

As Christians, we found a fantastic series at a marriage retreat on this subject.
The title of the series is God's Design for Sex. It consists of 4 books, ranging for age groups of 3-5, 5-8, 8-11 & 11-14.
It is written by Stan & Brenna Jones, Navpress is the publisher, 800.366.7788
I highly recommend it as sex is one of God's greatest gifts, so who better to educate about it.
Best of luck~
J. T.

I picked up copies of " Our bodies,Our selves" for my kids. They have a version for a girl and for a boy. I have been very pleased with the results. My kids read them at their own speed and I have answered any questions that they have.

"So You're About to Become a Teenager" was a great book we read with our sons as they made the transition from elementary school to middle school. Can't remember if there were any sections in it that would help with the early onset of puberty (9 years). In our house that stage was mainly body odor onset.

I remember both my older boys being quite uncomfortable in 5th grade when we had the puberty discussion-timed it with when the school was going to do their lesson. The response I got was "did I really need to know all that about me and the girls" and "do the girls know all this too?" Mind you, all we discussed was the body changes, not where babies come from.

My youngest is 8 and in 3rd grade. I don't think he's ready for puberty knowledge yet (he still thinks body noise is funny), of course I'm just talking about my youngest, I'm not questioning your judgement at all (you know your son).

"What's happening to my Body: for Boys"

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Happening-Body-Revised-Third/...

I think this is the book I remember as being quite open and useful. THey have one for boys and for girls. If it is the one I remember, I was quite impressed with it and thought I would buy it for my future children.

**edit**
actually, I think this was it...

My body my self for boys, "What's happening to my body"
http://www.amazon.com/My-Body-Self-Boys-Happening/dp/1557...

Both books are by Lynda Madaras.

Good luck!

Two other recommendations on this general category:

1. I'd encourage ANY parents with anxiety about this issue to read Debra Haffner's wonderful From Diapers to Dating: A Parent's Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Children. It offers SUCH a good approach....instead of one Big Talk, she promotes a much more casual, ongoing dialogue, just the same way we return time & again to other important life topics - kindness, honesty, household safety, eating & sleeping, whatever. (I believe that Haffner also recommends the "What's Happening to My Body" series, by the way.) I had trouble being casual about this stuff at first, but I've realized that it's SO much better to just treat it like any other topic, while they're young. If they don't see us acting freaked out about these things, they will be so much more likely to 1) not think of their bodies as dirty/taboo, 2) come to us for information instead of picking it up on the playground, 3) learn to take responsibility for themselves and their decisions as they mature into adulthood, rather than just getting "swept away" by hormones & ending up with unintended heartbreak/pregnancy/disease that could SO easily have been prevented.

2. For parents w/ younger grade schoolers, check out this book by Marc Brown (yes, from the Arthur series) and his wife (Lauren Brown, maybe??), a social worker or child psychologist, called What's The Big Secret: Talking About Sex With Boys and Girls. The illustration style offers comforting familiarity to any kids who've read or watched Arthur, and the information is presented in a basic, matter-of-fact way.

A (college-level) student of mine just recommended David Walsh's book, "Why Do They Act That Way?" It deals a lot with the teenage brain and what developmental changes are occurring in order to explain the title question. She read it as a late teen who was hoping to teach middle-schoolers one day, so it may be better for Mom and Dad than for your son, but it sounds excellent.

I am teaching a sex education curriculum to the fourth graders at my church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation. The book we recommend to parents is called "It's Perfectly Normal" which has just been released in a 10th anniversary edition a couple of years ago. This book is appropriate for children in 4th to 6th grades. There are other books by the same authors for younger and older youth.
The curriculum I teach is called Our Whole Lives and is based on values, honesty and accuracy. It was written by top sex educators. You will find it used in most Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ congregations. It is never too early to teach kids about sex in an age appropriate way. If you don't teach them, where do you think they are going to satisfy their knowledge and how accurate will that be? If you wish your child to be grounded in your family values, you need to teach your children yourself.

There are 2 books-Young People ASk-questions that work, volume 1 and 2 that cover all areas of growing up thru teen years with an interactive section at the end of each chapter. It is put out by Jehovah' Witnesses and is the best! You can contact them by phone at the Kingdom Hall or ask when they come to your door if you dont know of anyone. They dont sell them, but will accept a contribution towards its printing and the voluntary ministry work.

My son's wonderful peditrictian (he was selected by Baltimore magaine as one of their top docs) recommended "What's Happening to my Body".

No one has mentioned a book that all the moms are talking about "It's so Amazing".

http://www.amazon.com/Its-So-Amazing-Families-Library/dp/...

Most of the reviews on Amazon are great, though some did not like that the book included a section on alternate lifestyles.

Hi V.!

Oh I know!!!!! It was so scary for to think of a way to talk to my kids about "everything". I have never come across a book, although I didn't look that hard.

They learn quite a few things in 5th grade. It's State Mandated (I was told). Then as long as they "know" the basics before starting Jr. High School, you will be OK.

Now, if your son is asking about things already, then I would answer him briefly, without details. Everything you discuss should be done in steps. This way, it's not too overwhelming/shocking for him.........this is based on experience :o)

Good Luck! I hope that something I've said can help you a little.

~N. :o)

V.,
I have all girls, but know your concerns. The oldest is 19 now and I enrolled her in a class given by the Clay County Health Department. You and your child attend the class together. The instructors, both men and women cover everything in a relaxed way. At the first meeting they were all looking at their laps not wanting to be there. By the end of the first class they were all talking with each other and enjoying the class. I highly recommend this class. Some kids had questions that we as parents didn't know how to respond to and the teachers were a big help. They suggest attending between the ages of 9-12.

The 'Heart to Heart' program offered through the lucille Packard Children's Hospital is simply wonderful. I took my son there when he was ten -- two night classes, and it covers all the bases on puberty/development and sexuality. Very appropriate, and presented by a Doctor with a great sense of humor. There's one class for Men/Boys and one for Women/Girls.

Steve

I don't know any specific books but whenever I'm looking for anything parenting related I do a search on Mothering.com and usually come up with something good.

Dear V.,
I don't know about any good books. My kids were 10 years apart though, so my son knew about bras and mini-pads by virtue of being raised in a house of girls. Explaining how that all worked was pretty easy. We also had a cat who had kittens when he was pretty little and he knows were babies come from. He hasn't actually gone through puberty yet, but we have family members who are boys who have and we talk pretty openly about things.
I've been a single mom for 12 years and he does spend time with his father, but doesn't feel comfortable talking with him about things the way he talks with me. His dad never had anything explained to him and I think he is going to continue that line of thinking with our son.
I don't think it's wrong or embarrassing to talk about how our bodies function. But it should be done carefully. All kids are different and so is the information they are able to handle and at what age.
I hope you get some good reference suggestions. I might look into them myself.
Take care!

Iam inquiring about the same topic. My son is 10 and I'm a single mom and clueless. I have spoken to his doctor but any additional information would be helpful.
Thank you!

Hi V., for me personally ,I am not thinking about talking to my 9 year old boy right now. Boys develop later then girls usually. But alot of people do start this young. I have just spent alot of time researching books on this because I have a almost 12 year old daughter to cover this with . I went to amazon books and found so many books,and helpful reveiws which I love to hear from people who've already read the books. It really depends on how you want to talk about all this. I am approaching this with a persective of Gods plan and design of our bodies. I found so many amazing books that will really help get through this diffucult (for me) topic. I must have bought 5 books. All cover boys and girls and are for different ages. I recommend you go to amazon and research your topic and style of teaching you want to use and you'll find very helpful reviews and excerpts from the books. Best wishes

Hello,
i have an interesting book for you, which i'm sure going to be of a great help for the kids to understand about puberty

http://www.howtotellyourchild.com/product/mr-ps-guide-for...