# Books for 3-5 year olds about the 'birds and the bees' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758 "2011-07-12T15:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/1 "2011-07-12T15:51:56Z")
It seems that my five year old daughter is now starting to ask questions about where babies come from and a bit more about her own body. She is also starting to do inappropriate things in school. Since I am divorced I don’t see my girls, three and five, every day I’m not sure what they are told if anything. I’m looking for some age appropriate books about babies and the human body, especially girls bodies. I’ve tried to see some of the books at Amazon, but when I read the reviews a lot of what I see are things like > [@](#): > > OMG this book told my daughter she has a vagina! She shouldn’t be learning that at this age. This book is for teenagers.’ So that’s not much help. If there’s true inappropriateness then that’s different but if it’s just labeling the parts of her body then I don’t see the big deal. So bring on the dirty books for my youngsters. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/2 "2011-07-12T16:10:14Z")
[Where did I come from?](http://www.amazon.com/Where-Did-Come-Peter-Mayle/dp/0818402539/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1310486764&sr=8-1). The naked (cartoonish but biologically accurate) mommy and daddy are fat middle aged people, by the way. 😃 Gotto love good old-fashioned 70s-era frankness. I had it as a kid and it was much perused. It is age-appropriate for a 5-year old. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/3 "2011-07-12T16:23:59Z")
I teach OWL (Our Whole Lives) at my UU fellowship. OWL is a comprehensive sex ed class, with classes starting for kindergarten-aged kids and going all the way through adulthood. The book that we recommend for ages 5-6 is [It’s So Amazing](http://www.amazon.com/Its-So-Amazing-Families-Library/dp/0763613215/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310487302&sr=8-1). I bought it for my own son when he was 5 and I found it appropriate for him, although it says it’s geared for kids 7+. It’s illustrated with cartoons, shows naked people, and shows how babies are made and born. It also covers adoption, okay/not okay touches, HIV/AIDS, and feelings a kid may have when a new baby is brought home. There is also a book in the series, [It’s Not the Stork](http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Stork-Families-Friends/dp/0763633313/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1310487302&sr=8-3), that says it’s geared toward kids a little bit younger, but I have not actually read it. For older kids, the series has [It’s Perfectly Normal](http://www.amazon.com/Its-Perfectly-Normal-Changing-Growing/dp/0763644846/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310487302&sr=8-2), which goes into puberty and personal feelings about sex. These books are frank, have good pictures (all cartoons - no photographs), and have a ton of information. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/4 "2011-07-12T16:57:10Z")
[Where do Babies Come From?](http://www.amazon.com/Where-Babies-Come-Margaret-Sheffield/dp/0394484827/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310489658&sr=1-2) Out of print, unfortunately, but see if you can find it. My parents gave it to me as soon as I was old enough to read it. [The book.](http://www.scribd.com/doc/17227773/Where-Do-Babies-Come-From) ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/5 "2011-07-12T17:27:18Z")
Has anyone read [Amazing You: Getting Smart about your Private Parts](http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-You-Getting-Smart-Private/dp/0142410586/ref=pd_sim_b_4) or [I Said No! A Kid to Kid Guide to Keeping your Privates Private.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1878076493/ref=lst_llp_sl-1) I don’t want to get too much into the sex aspect right now as I’m not sure how the mother would like it. We’re having a hard enough time as is and I don’t want to make it any worse. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/6 "2011-07-12T17:45:22Z")
I’ll join in on the recommendation for “Where Did I Come From” and for a slightly older group, “What is Happening to My Body”. On a personal note, after I showed the “Where…” book to my son, he came back later and started with the set up: “Remember that book?”, “Remember that you said if I had questions I should ask?” – at this point I’m getting a little worried – “Do they make books like that about insects?” We went to the bookstore that evening and got a lovely insect book. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-for-3-5-year-olds-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/588758/7 "2011-07-13T02:02:32Z")
Since its going to come up eventually, Google the title **Show Me!** for some real controversial fair. Those wacky, enlightened Europeans…