Review by Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. Harris and Emberley's It's Perfectly Normal0 (1994) and It's So Amazing 0 (1999), sex-ed books for pubescent and prepubescent readers, respectively, are among today's most frequently challenged titles. Their newest targets kids closer to potty training than puberty, but like its predecessors, it will undoubtedly raise as many hackles as it attracts words of praise. Some controversial elements in the previous books have been toned down or left out here; there are no images of unclothed adults or references to masturbation, abortion, and birth control. But what remains will still widen many eyes: pictures of nude children with body parts exhaustively labeled; text about the "kind of loving that happens when . . . the man's penis goes inside the woman's vagina" that candidly expresses what the accompanying under-the-blankets visual leaves to the imagination. Emberley's affectionate, mood-lightening cartoons keep things approachable, while Harris' respectful writing targets children's natural curiosity without cloaking matters in obfuscating language. Based on its length and detail, the book's advertised intent to reach children as young as four seems optimistic. All the same, this will smoothly adapt to the needs of individual families, who will want to choose among the three options based less on assigned age ranges than on personal comfort levels with the topics addressed. For another forthright but less-comprehensive book, suggest Dori Hillestad Butler's My Mom's Having a Baby! 0 (2005). --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A welcome addition to their oversize- format series about where humans come from and how they grow, It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families, and Friends by Robie H. Harris, illus. by Michael Emberley, addresses common questions raised by children. In Emberley's usual friendly style, cartoon panels illustrate "the big swim" of the sperm to the egg, while on another spread, clear diagrams of a boy and girl illustrate their different body parts. An excellent introduction to babies' origins for youngest curious minds. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Harris opens by introducing two cartoon characters-a green-feathered bird clad in a purple shirt and blue high-top sneakers and his spike-haired friend, a bee. They wonder, "So where DO babies come from?" Their conversational commentary, given in word balloons, is a lighthearted supplement to a more focused narrative. Told in the second person, the text is straightforward, informative, and personable. Facts are presented step-by-step, starting from the similarities and differences between boys' and girls' bodies, moving to a baby's conception, growth in the womb, and birth, ending with an exploration of different configurations of families as well as a section on "okay" versus "not okay" touches. The book is logically organized into 23 double-page sections. Friendly and relaxed cartoons, either interspersed with the text or appearing in comic-strip form, are integral to the title's success in imparting the material. The labeled drawings show both the outside and the inside parts of the body. As the bee and bird say to one another, "Knowing the names of ALL the parts of your body is-PERFECTLY NORMAL!" Overall, this book will be accessible to its intended audience, comforting in its clarity and directness, and useful to a wide range of readers.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool) In their previous landmark volumes It's Perfectly Normal (rev. 3/95) and It's So Amazing! (rev. 1/00), Harris and Emberley established themselves as the purveyors of reader-friendly, straightforward information on human sexuality for children as young as seven. Here they successfully tackle the big questions about body parts (in successive chapters called ""What Boys Have"" and ""What Girls Have""), where babies come from, and other related issues for even younger kids. The ever-curious cartoon bird and his more reticent bee friend, first introduced in It's Perfectly Normal, set a welcoming tone right from the beginning, when, in a double-page comic-strip spread, they see a baby hippo at the zoo and wonder about its origins. Using basic yet thorough explanations, the text then proceeds to inform the duo that babies don't grow in gardens or get ordered over the Internet. Emberley's relaxed cartoon depictions of children and grownups with a realistic array of body types work seamlessly with the text to illustrate everything from anatomy to fetal development to different configurations of families. One useful and particularly humorous illustration titled ""Pregnant Woman at the Movies"" exemplifies the book's attention to detail. A mixed-race family -- white mom, black dad, son, and baby in utero -- sit in their seats at the theater while labels pointing to the mother's middle distinguish between the stomach and the uterus, clearly showing children that ""the fetus doesn't grow where the popcorn goes!"" (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Harris and Emberley's trademark bird and bee return to help harried parents explain to their preschoolers and early elementary-aged children just exactly where babies come from. Opening with a dialogue that features a number of myths about procreation, the narrative then delivers what readers of It's So Amazing! (1999) and It's Perfectly Normal (1994) have come to expect: frank, age-appropriate discussions of topics that can send the unprepared parent screaming from the room. From the differences and similarities between boys and girls, to a preview of puberty, to conception, pregnancy and birth, Harris's reassuring text and Emberley's cheerfully lumpy cartoons hold the reader's hand through question after question. Concluding chapters explore physical and emotional boundaries, "okay touches" and "not okay touches," and the many different permutations of the modern family unit. Far too long for a bedtime read-aloud, this volume is well-suited for browsing, reference and independent examination. Although it is primarily aimed at young readers, the clarity and candor of the presentation will ensure its usefulness to older elementary children with limited reading skills. A happy addition to the Harris-Emberley family. (Nonfiction. 4-11) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
