First Comes Love: All About The Birds And Bees - And Alligators, Possums, And People, Too. FROM THE PUBLISHER
Where Do Babies Come From?
No question arouses more curiosity - and few are harder to answer. This spirited book takes on the challenge with humor and warmth, rhyming its way through the facts if life. From the first amorous glance tot he birth of the bouncing baby, it's the story of how we all got here.
FROM THE CRITICS
School Library Journal
...for parents who want a vehicle for exploring the topic with their children.
Children's Literature
As the cover of this book admits, no questions strike more fear in the hearts of most parents than those pertaining to where babies come from. Even the most enlightened have difficulty arriving at a comfortable point of reference, as in how much is too much information and how much is not enough. This clever book may be just the ticket for those parents wishing to include sex education as a matter-of-fact rite of passage for primary aged children. Written in humorous rhyme and illustrated in a most unusual, cartoon-like fashion, the text takes a light-hearted yet authentic approach to mating throughout the animal kingdom. This approach is accompanied by vignettes at the bottom of each text page offering information that supports or explains the often-silly rhymes. The mating of humans is treated realistically, but is supported by text that emphasizes that two mature people make a conscious, loving decision to make a baby. Reading the rhyming text makes the whole process seem like such a natural thing that it may be just right for initiating this difficult topic with youngsters. 2001, Workman Publishing, $10.95. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger
Parent Council Reviews
A whimsical approach to telling children about the "birds and the bees." This book explains the mating behavior of animals and humans through rhyme and humorous illustrations. An example is "A smitten peacock shakes his tail all around. / His fabulous feathers are world renowned. / He calls to his lover as he flies through the air, / His peahen swoons for this fellow with flair." Each page also gives facts about the animals and their behaviors. I think young elementary-aged children (and their parents) will enjoy the illustrations and rhymes. The approach is positive and will allow youngsters the opportunity to ask questions. The information about human sexuality is brief, but well done. The actual mechanics of human sexuality, the development of the fetus, and birth are not discussed in any detail. 2001, Workman Publishing, $10.95. Ages 10 to 12. Reviewer: S. Latson SOURCE: Parent Council, September 2001 (Vol. 9, No. 1)
School Library Journal
K-Gr 6-Davis explains various types of mating, births, and child-rearing styles of species from octopus, firefly, and human to mosquito and penguin-all in jaunty rhyme. Because it's hard to be totally informative under the beat of rhyming couplets, there are also the picture-book equivalent of footnotes. They provide details such as "Human babies are usually born headfirst and come out through their mother's vagina" or "When a male possum goes courting, he makes a metallic clicking sound." Mackie's stylish and smart drawings are equally festive but less instructive (no genitalia are drawn or diagramed). There's lots of visual drollery in the surreal bat mates and the jolly lion family. (The lioness wears spike heels, harlequin spectacles, and carries a brief case.) This work is definitely in the Peter Mayle (Where Did I Come From? [Lyle Stuart, 1986]) camp: smiling sperm rush to a love-struck egg. This isn't the book for those who are turned off by anthropomorphic courtship and love for peacocks, spiders, and alligators. It will be largely for parents who want a vehicle for exploring the topic with their children. A book for libraries that provide a variety of approaches to the subject.-Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Home
