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vikingwolf's review against another edition
3.0
When Sister discovers that her mother is going to have a baby, she is full of questions about where the baby is and how it will come out. A good beginner guide to the birth of a baby.
aftanith's review against another edition
3.0
This was an acceptable effort toward introducing young children to the concept of birth. On the other hand, I found it disappointing; it doesn't address "the birds and the bees" at all, though the title implies otherwise. It only deals with pregnancy and delivery, not conception.
The reason is obvious: teaching children of any age about conception is in many places incredibly taboo. I don't agree with that, personally, and think it's far preferable to introduce children to the scientific idea of conception when they're old enough to start wondering about it, rather than trying to keep them in the dark and building up sex as some kind of massive, taboo secret they're not allowed to learn; I think presenting it honestly to a child--rather than keeping it a secret or teaching it as something shameful--would help cultivate a more mature understanding of human sexuality in these children's future adolescence and adulthood. But that's just me, and I recognize that even those parents who don't find sexuality to be some kind of damnable sin aren't often comfortable with the idea of their children learning the related concepts before puberty. (Though I would argue that dumping all that information on a child at once right when it's about to start effecting them--or even worse, after it has--can create a truly frightening and confusing experience for the child.) It's just that history has shown that taking away the taboo of sex and opening up communication about its function, its purpose, and its side effects has had the wonderful effect of decreasing teen/childhood pregnancy rates, which is always a good thing in a society with too many babies to begin with.
So I take this book, mediocre though it is, as a step in the right direction. I didn't teach as much as I felt it should, but it taught far more than it would have been allowed to just a few decades earlier.
The reason is obvious: teaching children of any age about conception is in many places incredibly taboo. I don't agree with that, personally, and think it's far preferable to introduce children to the scientific idea of conception when they're old enough to start wondering about it, rather than trying to keep them in the dark and building up sex as some kind of massive, taboo secret they're not allowed to learn; I think presenting it honestly to a child--rather than keeping it a secret or teaching it as something shameful--would help cultivate a more mature understanding of human sexuality in these children's future adolescence and adulthood. But that's just me, and I recognize that even those parents who don't find sexuality to be some kind of damnable sin aren't often comfortable with the idea of their children learning the related concepts before puberty. (Though I would argue that dumping all that information on a child at once right when it's about to start effecting them--or even worse, after it has--can create a truly frightening and confusing experience for the child.) It's just that history has shown that taking away the taboo of sex and opening up communication about its function, its purpose, and its side effects has had the wonderful effect of decreasing teen/childhood pregnancy rates, which is always a good thing in a society with too many babies to begin with.
So I take this book, mediocre though it is, as a step in the right direction. I didn't teach as much as I felt it should, but it taught far more than it would have been allowed to just a few decades earlier.
dandelionfluff's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good explanation without getting too into detail!
calistareads's review against another edition
3.0
I'll be honest why I choose this book to read. I tract how many books I read for the published year and my counts for 2000 are falling behind the others. I went looking for titles published in this year and ordered them up.
Mama Bear’s lap starts to disappear and she tells sister bear that she is pregnant. This is the birds and the bees book. It runs down the basics of having babies without getting graphic at all. She tells sister the baby is growing inside her womb and then sister asks how it gets out and she has to take sister to the hospital during an ultrasound so the doctor can answer that. The answer given is the word birth canal, which is totally true.
The basics of life have been freely covered in this house. All that stuff has been gone over. So when they doctor says the word birth canal, both kids stop the story and say, “the baby comes out of the mother’s vagina.” So they know the basics. The nephew wanted to know why they just didn’t say it. I told him that some people don’t like using those words. Anyway, this was all very interesting to say the least. The niece asked all these questions years ago and the nephew caught up some time ago.
The neph thought this was an ok story. He thought it was useful, but not all that exciting and he gave it 2 stars.
Mama Bear’s lap starts to disappear and she tells sister bear that she is pregnant. This is the birds and the bees book. It runs down the basics of having babies without getting graphic at all. She tells sister the baby is growing inside her womb and then sister asks how it gets out and she has to take sister to the hospital during an ultrasound so the doctor can answer that. The answer given is the word birth canal, which is totally true.
The basics of life have been freely covered in this house. All that stuff has been gone over. So when they doctor says the word birth canal, both kids stop the story and say, “the baby comes out of the mother’s vagina.” So they know the basics. The nephew wanted to know why they just didn’t say it. I told him that some people don’t like using those words. Anyway, this was all very interesting to say the least. The niece asked all these questions years ago and the nephew caught up some time ago.
The neph thought this was an ok story. He thought it was useful, but not all that exciting and he gave it 2 stars.
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