Best "how my body works" for girls?
July 5, 2013 1:47 PM Subscribe
I'd like to get my soon-to-be-8 year old a book about "how her body works" etc. Recommendations?
I know I've seen some books recommended on AskMe, but searching didn't turn them up. So, what books would you recommend for girls to learn about their bodies and what's coming up vis a vis puberty? She reads at a pretty high level---the Tiffany Aching books are her favorites.
I know I've seen some books recommended on AskMe, but searching didn't turn them up. So, what books would you recommend for girls to learn about their bodies and what's coming up vis a vis puberty? She reads at a pretty high level---the Tiffany Aching books are her favorites.
Best answer: It's Perfectly Normal!
posted by ActionPopulated at 1:53 PM on July 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by ActionPopulated at 1:53 PM on July 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
Best answer: The Care and Keeping of You, from American Girl, was the book for me when I was growing up a decade or so ago (I was also a fairly high-level reader, and it didn't make me feel condescended to). It looks like now it's in two volumes, one for ages 8 and up that your daughter could use now, and another for older girls for a couple of years down the road. I can't vouch for the specifics of the current edition, but I found it pretty helpful back in the day. (Although it didn't teach me anything about sex, just about changing-body stuff. So you might want another book for that.)
posted by honey wheat at 2:25 PM on July 5, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by honey wheat at 2:25 PM on July 5, 2013 [6 favorites]
Best answer: The Care and Keeping of You is the book I had when I was younger.
I found it really helpful. It talked about simple things like deodorant, hair and hair removal, swimmers ear, how to care for a blister, how to keep your hairbrush clean. It also talked about puberty, PMS, your period, a nice detail on how to use a tampon and pads. How to ask someone if your period starts.
If you preview the book you can see the table of contents for all the subjects. It really rounded out everything about how to take care of your body, and not just about your period. It even covers how to eat properly and eating disorders.
posted by Crystalinne at 3:27 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I found it really helpful. It talked about simple things like deodorant, hair and hair removal, swimmers ear, how to care for a blister, how to keep your hairbrush clean. It also talked about puberty, PMS, your period, a nice detail on how to use a tampon and pads. How to ask someone if your period starts.
If you preview the book you can see the table of contents for all the subjects. It really rounded out everything about how to take care of your body, and not just about your period. It even covers how to eat properly and eating disorders.
posted by Crystalinne at 3:27 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh and apparently theres a second followup The Care and Keeping of You 2. I never had this one, but it's for when girls get a little older so it may be worth getting both.
posted by Crystalinne at 3:29 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by Crystalinne at 3:29 PM on July 5, 2013
Nthing The Care and Keeping of You 1 and 2. My now-13-year-old daughter read the first one when she was your daughter's age and loved it. Devoured it in about an hour. I gave her the second one when she turned 12 and she loved that one, too. She goes back to them both to reference them or refresh her memory. They're fantastic.
posted by cooker girl at 3:40 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by cooker girl at 3:40 PM on July 5, 2013
Best answer: My daughter also had The Care and Keeping of You, and I must say was much more prepared for puberty than I was. She got it at about the same age and reading level your daughter is at now. I'd also recommend The Feelings Book which is also by American Girl
posted by Requiax at 3:42 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Requiax at 3:42 PM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seconding Our Bodies, Ourselves.
posted by fullerenedream at 8:53 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by fullerenedream at 8:53 PM on July 5, 2013
Best answer: The Care and Keeping of You sounds pretty good, but I will say that I had The What's Happening to My Body Book for Girls when I was her age, and I liked it - had a nice little way of putting various stories from other girls going through the same things scattered in the text. So that's another idea.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:32 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:32 PM on July 5, 2013
Best answer: And by the way I also own a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves and I do not think it is a good choice for a 7 year old girl. It is not aimed towards that age group.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:34 PM on July 5, 2013
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:34 PM on July 5, 2013
Agree with treehorn+bunny - our bodies, ourselves is probably 12 and up, as it assumes the reader is at the very least a teenager...but also want to add that for all of these books, the age designations are a bit out of date.
Waiting to give clear information about sex and sexuality until a "volume 2" intended for 12 year olds in 2013 means that the reader will likely have been exposed to a fair bit of porn and references to porn before she gets the factual information about the behaviour she's already seen. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a book like this that covers this issue well for younger kids...but anything you give an under-10 needs to be supplemented with at least a general-terms discussion of the difference between what's going on on her body and what's being passed around on schoolmates' phone screens. That may entail moving up the date on volume 2.
posted by Wylla at 1:35 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Waiting to give clear information about sex and sexuality until a "volume 2" intended for 12 year olds in 2013 means that the reader will likely have been exposed to a fair bit of porn and references to porn before she gets the factual information about the behaviour she's already seen. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a book like this that covers this issue well for younger kids...but anything you give an under-10 needs to be supplemented with at least a general-terms discussion of the difference between what's going on on her body and what's being passed around on schoolmates' phone screens. That may entail moving up the date on volume 2.
posted by Wylla at 1:35 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
...and after I wrote that, I looked at treehorn+bunny's link for the excellent The What's Happening to My Body Book for Girls...and saw that it's listed as "the classic puberty education book for 8-15-year-old girls." So, case in point.
posted by Wylla at 1:38 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Wylla at 1:38 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
I grew up loving Where Did I Come From? and What's Happening to Me? Both books give you the facts, and somehow manage to make human sexuality not just not-scary, but strangely cute and sweet.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:18 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:18 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
I absolutely loved Deal With It!: A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain and Life as a gURL when I was 15. It may be a little advanced for an 8-year old (for example, there are discussions of sex and drugs that might still be over her head), but I really appreciated the comprehensiveness and the sincerity of it when I was a kid.
The layout is also really cool, graphics/color-heavy and interesting to kids.
posted by thelastpolarbear at 7:41 AM on July 6, 2013
The layout is also really cool, graphics/color-heavy and interesting to kids.
posted by thelastpolarbear at 7:41 AM on July 6, 2013
The folks who publish the "Our Bodies, Our Selves" (which a teenaged rmd1023 found incredibly informative and awesome back in the day) publish a book aimed at adolescents, Changing Bodies, Changing Lives. I haven't read it but I have heard it very highly praised. There are excerpts available online.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:02 AM on July 6, 2013
posted by rmd1023 at 11:02 AM on July 6, 2013
(My guess is that she is too young for the actual "Our Bodies Our Selves")
posted by rmd1023 at 11:02 AM on July 6, 2013
posted by rmd1023 at 11:02 AM on July 6, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks, all. I'm going with "The Care and Keeping of You" right now, with a couple of the other books bookmarked for a year or two from now. (And "The Feelings Book" for good measure. Negotiating the playground---and even just getting dressed in the morning, sometimes---has been hard.)
posted by leahwrenn at 12:08 PM on July 6, 2013
posted by leahwrenn at 12:08 PM on July 6, 2013
I'd suggest picking up a copy of a book targeted to boys as well or getting one that talks explicitly (at least as explicitly as you're comfortable with) about both genders. The nine year old girl I live with is fascinated by understanding what boys were experiencing and the changes in their bodies.
posted by five_cents at 6:11 PM on July 6, 2013
posted by five_cents at 6:11 PM on July 6, 2013
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