Sex is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and YOU

What I appreciate so much about this lovely book is that it touches on subjects that I find myself handling right now as they come up--for example, gender roles, the presence and validity of the LGBT people in our communities, the fact that relationships can be with men or women or individuals who don't identify as either. What's wonderful about kids growing up at this time is that this information is not shocking or hard to understand. I feel intensely grateful that I live at a time, and in a place, where the concept of gay or lesbian relationships do not strike my child as strange. In fact, what confuses him is that there are still many people who find them not only strange, but troubling, and want to prevent people who love each show more other from creating legally recognized partnerships.

I'm being far more specific and preachy about this topic than this book does--in fact, it's really a gentle breeze that runs through the book. Other topics broached, and again, with a very light touch, are crushes/relationships, "secret touching" (used to be called good touch/bad touch), masturbation, words associated with sex, and so on. It utilizes four "characters" who represent fairly fluid categories of individuals: for the most part, their sexuality is ambiguous.

I do wish there had been more specificity. There was no discussion of the mechanics of sex, nor was there any discussion of "sex words" beyond the word "sexy." There was some discussion of sexual organs (described in this book as "middle parts," which I thought was nice--any part of the body can be private, the author argues), but nothing clinical. The illustrations served to show that body parts can look markedly different from person to person, from age to age, which actually can come as a surprise in this time of standardized and totally unachieveable standards of beauty. My son and I laughed at several of the illustrated scenes, and we found the use of question marks and exclamation marks to convey a character's sense of befuddlement or shock really endearing. This book doesn't really explain what sex is, but it provides parents a really low-key way to reinforce the ideas of trust, justice, joy, and respect in the context of all kinds of relationships, sexual and otherwise, as well as an easy way to introduce LGBT "acceptance" or "understanding," which is still in short supply. show less

This was great. Covered just about all the sex topics that my kid (7yo) was coming up with plus a few that I thought were important.

Parent Advisory: If you get this book (or any other sex-ed book) for your kid, be sure that you tell your kid not to take it to school and show it to a bunch of other second graders in the after-school program, because although this book is completely age-appropriate, and the kids themselves will be cool with it because they are super curious, the parents might not be ready to go there yet, and then you will have to have uncomfortable conversations with parents.

This was great. Covered just about all the sex topics that my kid (7yo) was coming up with plus a few that I thought were important. [return][return]Parent Advisory: If you get this book (or any other sex-ed book) for your kid, be sure that you tell your kid not to take it to school and show it to a bunch of other second graders in the after-school program, because although this book is completely age-appropriate, and the kids themselves will be cool with it because they are super curious, the parents might not be ready to go there yet, and then you will have to have uncomfortable conversations with parents.

This is an excellent guide to bodily issues for late elementary - middle school kids, especially those whose parents cannot figure out how to do "The Talk". Reading it together would be the best. Great illustrations make the factual info go down (ha) easier.

Sex is a funny word is an informational book about gender identities, sexuality, bodies etc. The book is for educating children about things that aren't really talked about- like sex or masturbation. I have mixed feelings about this book for a variety of reasons. One thing I really liked was the illustrations. The illustrations are bright, bold cartoon style pictures that illustrate the story perfectly. The illustrations show a diverse group of people which makes children feel included. Secondly, the book is set up in a very organized manner and it has clear language that children can understand even though the ideas are mature. For example, "But there are many ways to be a boy or a girl. And there are many ways to grow up and become an show more adult." Finally, I like that the book pushes readers to think about new perspectives, however I don't know about all the content in the book. The book discusses sex, being transgender, and gay. I think it's good to have these conversations with children so they are more accepting. The author says the book is for 8-10 years old and I think some of the content about sex is too much for children. This would never be a book to have in the classroom, but for some families this book might be good. show less

Lovely! A beautiful book about sex for kids that focuses on feelings and respect. The language and illustrations are really inclusive. I feel like this could be an essential book for some kids.

A great book that covers gender identity, sexuality, and the beautiful uniqueness that our bodies are. Body positive and LGBT friendly, I can't recommend this book enough.