Celebrate Your Body (and Its Changes, Too!): The Ultimate Puberty Book for Girls

I love that this book has a very positive take on puberty, and though it is secular, it speaks of the awesome gift of the body that God gave to women. However, because my daughter loves sports and boy Legos and detests nail polish and pink, Im afraid she may get the wrong message from the book. Because a girl does not like what is stereotypically girly, in no way means she should start questioning her gender. Girls come in all shapes and sizes as this book clearly states, BUT also in all different personalities, all equally female. I love the book except for the 3 pages that suggest gender questioning, which may not be in line with some families values.

My daughter turned ten a few weeks ago and I wanted to start preparing her for the eventuality of her period and other bodily changes. She is gifted and a straight A+ student but she\’s also a very young ten maturity-wise (thank God). She does not know how babies are made really. She still plays with horse toys and dragons and Harry Potter dolls etc. We have raised her to be accepting of people no matter their sexuality. We are liberal leaning even though we\’re also Catholic. She is obsessed with reading and because she\’s so smart, it\’s hard to find books as she gets older that are not about catty girls or romantic relationships in any kind of physical detail (Harry Potter has been the hardest one for us so far). So many of the books about a girl\’s body include discussions about boys and sex — and eating disorders, fashion etc. I don\’t think girls need to be thinking about that sort of stuff at this age. I\’m happy to find so many of my daughter\’s friends\’ parents agree — even some with boys who say their sons still don\’t really know how babies are made (they shouldn\’t at this age!!!). Let them be kids a while longer!! This world rips away their childhoods long before that should happen as it is! Before giving this book to my daughter, I read it cover-to-cover on my own and I LOVED it. There was nothing in this book that would spoil your unspoiled daughter. The closest the author comes is talking about how your daughter might find herself having different kinds of feelings for kids she used to think of only as friends or classmates, and that\’s okay. The writer doesn\’t say having feelings for \”boys\” — she keeps it sexually neutral — which is refreshing. It doesn\’t get into sex education. There is a very troubled boy in my daughter\’s school who routinely says inappropriate sexually charged things to her & her friends. My daughter thankfully doesn\’t understand most of the slang words he uses (so she comes home to ask me — to my horror that this boy is saying such things). Well this charming young man asked my daughter the other day if she is gay. My daughter knows this term because she has an uncle who is gay and she loves him dearly. She was raised with no concept that being gay is in any way different from being straight. She was raised to know that being gay is not a choice people make — they are born that way — and that God doesn\’t make mistakes. Her answer to this boy who asked if she is gay was, \”I don\’t know — I haven\’t fallen in love with anyone yet\”. OMG!! I about died of pride!!! This book helped prepare her for a question of that nature. I wanted a book that explained the process of a period and the general purpose of it without prehistoric ideas of sexuality. I wanted a book that would tell her what is happening to her body without the extra street knowledge of sex. This book is very \”clean\” in that regard but it\’s also not religious or conservative — which we didn\’t want either. It\’s as informative as it needs to be for total understanding of what\’s happening in puberty, written in an open-minded and progressive way, without being too advanced. It is well written. This is such a good book that I\’m recommending it to everyone I know with girls this age who are like my own daughter. Bravo to the writer.

I bought this book for my 9 year old daughter. Be forewarned that the introduction suggests the reader may identify as a girl, or may not identify as a girl. Or maybe somedays you feel like a girl and somedays you feel like a boy. Huh?! Puberty is confusing enough without filling little girls heads with unnecessary and complicated interference.

I\’ve researched dozens & dozens of books for my 10y.o niece, and \’Celebrate Your Body\’ is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Everything in Sonya Renee Taylor\’s approach is positive and encouraging. She acknowledges many colors and body types and provides just the right amount of detail for a tween/pre-teen reader. *Every other book I researched in this genre had an inordinate focus on appearance & traditional notions of beauty.* Something I wanted to avoid. They also, without exception, addressed interest in \”boys\” – excluding anyone who might not be interested in boys & reinforcing the confusion they may be feeling about not being \”normal.\” To be clear, the book doesn\’t encourage or even go into detail on this topic, it simply refers to developing feelings for \”someone\” using generic pronouns. This is just one example of Sonya Renee Taylor\’s subtle approach to inclusiveness & cultural sensitivity. If you\’re looking for an encouraging, straightforward, medically accurate, inclusive guide for your 9-12y.o, This. Is. Your. Book. Adult readers: If you haven\’t already checked out the author\’s other book, \”The Body Is Not An Apology,\” I highly recommend doing so. Sonya Renee Taylor is a gift to Humanity

I was going to purchase a different but well – known book about puberty for my daughter, but read quite a number of negative reviews about how that book gave their daughters insecurities about their bodies… which is what I was trying to avoid by purchasing such a book! Celebrate Your Body is the complete opposite! It\’s informative in a helpful, kind, and realistic way. I highly recommend this book for any parent/guardian of a pre-teen girl.

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