5 great books for teaching sex education to children
If your little ones started asking where babies come from and you're not sure how to answer - these books could help
"Where did I come from, mummy?" It’s one of the questions many parents dread. Do you make something up about gooseberry bushes or storks?
Or do you bite the bullet and try and give them the truth – minus a few intimate or gory bits?
Should you be facing such a dilemma, we have selected a range of age-appropriate books to help you out.
5 great books to teach your child sex education
1. Where Do Babies Come From?
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This book is part of the Usborne first questions and answers series. Written by Usborne regular Katie Daynes, this lift-the-flaps book is perfect for very young children.
The bright visuals combined with the straightforward language, demonstrates how babies are made, carried and delivered. It uses humans as well as animals and birds to highlight the differences.
This is a lovely book, designed to inform and educate while remaining reassuring. Highly recommended.
Age: 3-5
Price: £9.99
Available from: The Works
2. Where Willy Went
Despite its innuendo-style title, Where Willy Went, Nicholas Allen’s inventive story uses an imaginative narrative to answer those burning questions for younger children.
Aimed at the 4 to 7-year-old market, the story follows Willy a little sperm who lives in Mr Browne along with another 300 million sperms.
The race is on to reach the coveted egg – but can Willy make it? Great fun and educational too.
Age: 4-7
Price: £6.99
Available from: Amazon
3. Let's Talk About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends
This book, by Robert H Harris is a very comprehensive book, looking at lots of aspects of growing up as well as the baby question.
Using lively illustrations and educational text, this again looks at people, animals and plants to get over some of the trickier biology.
Having said that, it uses words such as uterus and vulva too so it doesn’t shy away from the subject at all.
Age: 5-8
Price: £7.47
Available from: Walker Books
4. Mummy Laid an Egg
An oldie, but still a goldie is Babette Cole’s Mummy Laid an Egg (Red Fox). Published back in 1995, this beautifully illustrated, light-hearted tale lifts the lid on reproduction, while we watch the embarrassed parents search for ever more inventive alternatives to the truth.
Great fun and suitable for children just starting primary school. Well worth adding to your book shelf.
Age: 5-7
Price: £6.99
Available from: Amazon
5. How Did I Begin?
For slightly older children, How Did I Begin (Franklin Watts) by Mick Manning comes highly recommended. It netted the Royal Society’s Science Prize and gently but thoroughly explains the facts of life, charting the development of the baby in the womb via easy to understand concepts and illustrations.
It also offers children the perfect opportunity to chat about stuff with their parents and get things out in the open.
Age: 6-11
Price: £3.99 (Kindle edition)
Available: Amazon
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