I still remember when I was told how sex works. The physical gymnastics seemed rather bizarre to me at the time, and I remember asking, “How did people figure that out?”
The early where-do-babies-come-from conversation is always a bit uncomfortable, and to aid bashful parents, many publishers produce books aimed at making the process a bit easier. But as an adult, you can’t look at some of them without cringing a little. Here’s one from the 1960s — complete with illustrations — that might bring you back to an uncomfortable memory from your childhood.
The book starts out with a nice metaphor about seeds and plants.
After that, it addresses animals. You know from their faces that those giraffes are about to get freaky.
And it really doesn’t censor itself much, although a child might be confused about what stacking chickens has to do with babies.
But it’s explained in full.
The text in the book is very straightforward without being too graphic. If you have to explain sex, this book actually does a pretty decent job. (All without using the word “cloaca.”)
It then teaches kiddos that their moms and dads were lying when they said that the dogs were “just playing.”
And finally, the book gets to the real topic: humans. These are humans.
Mom is super perky, so there’s that.
The actual mechanics are left for the kids to infer from the previous illustrations.
It’s somewhat lacking in the romance department, but you don’t even understand romance when you’re seven, so who cares?
After it discusses sex, the book talks about pregnancy and childbirth.
And it leaves out the gory aspects, of course.
You can tell by their hollow, soulless eyes that these kids just had “the talk.”
(via BuzzFeed)
You can also check this book out on Awful Library Books (a site that we highly recommend for all kinds of cringe), and see some reactions from people who endured this literary gem as kids.
Having frank conversations with kids about sex is healthy, and can help them make informed, safe decisions later in life. It also spares them some of the confusion and shame that goes along with repressing it. (But you might want to skip the chicken diagrams.)
