What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: Revised Edition

What's Happening to My Body?

by Lynda Madaras, Area Madaras, Simon Sullivan

Everything preteen and teen boys need to know about their changing bodies and feelings Written by an experienced educator and her daughter in a reassuring and down-to earth style, The "What's Happening to My Body?" Book for Boys gives sensitive straight talk on: the body's changing size and shape; diet and exercise; the growth spurt; the reproductive organs; body hair; voice changes; romantic and sexual feelings; and puberty in the opposite sex. It also includes information on steroid abuse, acne treatment, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and birth control. Featuring detailed illustrations and real-life stories throughout, plus an introduction for parents and a helpful resource section, this bestselling growing-up guide is an essential puberty education and health book for all boys ages 10 and up.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Health, Childrens, Self Help, Sexuality, Banned Books

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Lynda Madaras is the author of eleven books on health, childcare, and parenting, including six from Newmarket Press. Lynda is recognized worldwide by librarians, educators, reviewers, parents, nurses, doctors --- and the kids themselves --- for her unique non-threatening style, excellent organization, and thorough coverage of the experience of adolescence.

For more than twenty years a sex and health education teacher in Pasadena and Santa Monica, California, she has made numerous appearances on Oprah, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, PBS, and is quoted often in newspapers and magazines. She lectures frequently to teachers, librarians, nurses, health professionals, and parents' groups.

She lives in California.

Reviews

[Kristen Gongora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, here is what happened: in hopes of avoiding any awkward talks, my mother dealt with her two pubescent children by buying us books. My brother got What's Happening To My Body Book For Boys, I got What's Happening to My Body Book For Girls. We both read our respective gifts avidly. Then we switched.

Lemme tell you, bad line drawings circa 1980 have a funny effect on impressionable youths. I am still a little scared about what you guys got going on down there.

[Holden · Rating 1 out of 5]

dad made me read it.

[Tank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this while I was growing up.

Its frank and informative without being boring. It's useful if you happen to be a young teenager.

Includes many helpful illustrations for those visually minded.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very reader-friendly tone of voice. I saw this on a 'banned book' list, so obviously I needed to read it. This is exactly what inquiring preteen/teens need - honest information, without any sarcasm. There are basic black/white drawn pictures with fairly good detail. A basic appendix in the back highlights other resources. It is good that this boys' book also has a girls chapter near the end.

Poor coverage of STDs. Zero coverage of internet safety.
This is pure knowledge, and no ethical discussions here. There are reminder tips to talk to parents, trusted adults, clergy, etc. for more interpretation.

Overall, I would love to have had a copy of this when I hit middle school.

3.5

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids are getting the information from disreputable sources, so in light of that, I'd rather they get it from a decent, if graphic and straightforward text source. At least this information is correct. This is good and appropriately geared toward middle school students - but parents know their kids best, should preview this before handing it to kids and if only part of the book works for their purposes, then there's no rules saying they have to use the whole thing. I for one think it's a good idea to have honest, straightforward and judgement free texts out there for adolescents to use...instead of shady internet sources.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for Tyler. Since I know my hubby was not about to have "the talk" with him. We are reading it together and I am really happy with the fact that it explains things that I never had to go through. Tyler seems to really have an understanding and has lots of questions (which is sometimes uncomfortable), but the book really helps.

[Ioana Johansson]

I've found out new things and I think it would be great for the target audience. I know it is way to early for us (baby is not even born yet but we do know it is going to be a boy) but it was on sale and I wanted to read it to know how to deal with different questions when they will arise. Its target is 9-15 year old boys and their parents:)

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource. We've already covered the basics with our son, so I think we'll hold off and get into this book when he's 13-ish when more of these changes and questions will be more relevant. It's a lot of information!!

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe not for the elementary classroom but possibly a parent recommendation. It seems most children are getting their information from youtube or another internet source. Having this book lying around may spark a boys interest and inform a parent of their own child's development.

[Melly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good solid information -- plus some interesting facts about circumcised vs. uncircumcised penises.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost teared up seeing the cover.

Buy this for your daughter. Or you.

I'll update later.

3/29/17

[Daniel Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as an assignment for a class on banned and challenged books. My desire is to teach middle school and I figured a refresher on puberty would be a good idea. Depending on what exactly I teach, this may end up being a reference book on my bookshelf that I could loan out. If I teach elementary, I may grab it for like 5th grade, but I felt that the target audience was boys aged 10-15.

While the subject matter was not something I enjoy reading about, this book presented it in a rather painless way. The writer is a former teacher, and I learned so much about teaching from this book. There are quite a few anecdotes of her early teaching days, some quite funny, some quite embarrassing. I found myself thinking about how I would teach the material in a class. While I felt this book was more intended for boys and their parents, as a future teacher this material is exceedingly important. I believe this wholeheartedly because we need to meet students where they are. And sometimes meeting them where they are means meeting hormonal, smelly, and awkward students and telling them it’s going to be ok.

In today’s world, even less than 10 years since I was in middle school health, so much more is online. And as a bonus, more and more children have smartphones. I only wish the book talked about pornography and some of the research with that, because 90% of 9-11 year olds have been exposed to it.

Altogether this book is a great resource for boys and their families, and, well, anyone who works with boys. This book does find itself on the list of frequently challenged books. This tends to happen in more conservative areas. While I do believe parents and guardians should take control of teaching their children about growth and development, kids and teens will find things out on their own. Just look at the pregnancy rate in schools that are abstinence based sexual education.

4/5 stars.

[Juliana Haught · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about puberty aimed at pre-teen boys. It's explicit and openly discusses issues that come up with puberty, so more conservative families might not like this, but I think this information is necessary. It not only covers the stages of puberty for boys in great detail (including illustrations), there's a section that reviews stages of puberty in girls. The book is grounded, fact-based discussion about all the various ways that puberty might get talked about at school amongst peers, and corrects common misconceptions, as well as puts to rest fears about being "abnormal" for not developing at the same rate as other boys. I recommend parents review this before handing it over to their sons, and be open to answering questions after your child has read it - if they have any. It's pretty thorough. we treated this as a follow-up book for our son. We gave him less detailed books aimed at younger boys a couple of years ago when he started to become aware of and curious about just puberty. Now that the basics of biological reproduction and stages of development have been covered at school, it became clear it was time to fill in the gaps.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter's pediatrician recommended the corresponding book for girls, so I decided to read them both. I will not be having my son read it yet, but I did think it was well-written and useful for boys who have already started developing and experiencing signs of puberty.

"What's Happening to My Body?" covers topics such as male and female physical development, puberty, growth spurts, romantic and sexual feelings. The author is clear that some people have different beliefs about certain aspects of sexuality, but presents the information in a straight-forward manner. Parents can provide the context of their own morals to their children as they discuss the topics together.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book about puberty for boys. Graphic and detailed, it does lay it all out there, but in a very matter-of-fact and easily readable way. I didn't love that all the slang was included (but I don't love slang anyway, and I guess I'd rather him hear it from me and understand what it means and NOT USE IT than not). Geared toward middle schoolers but thought I'd preview. This is probably one that I'll purchase so we can continue our discussions.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to start conversation with my kids. I bought the one for boys for my son and the girls for my daughter. I read them both first. Then took a Saturday and had them each read their own. Then I had them switch books and read the others. After that we sat together and talked about what we'd read. It was fantastic.

[Monique Cargill cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with my twelve year old son and we both loved it! It helped turn what could have been an awkward situation into a fun, interesting, and a great bonding experience.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

ŪGenerally quite good, with neutral and non-judgmental, factual language. It also explains a bit about girls too, and gives good tips for how to get this information across.

There were a few sections that people who are religious or conservative in outlook may want to avoid, such as short discussions about sexual fantasies being normal, mention of reading and underlining certain things in books, and homosexuality being normal (1 in 10 was quoted). But these are probably easily skipped with younger children, if you just want to avoid opening certain topics early.

It also includes a few lines here and there that may be difficult for boys who don't have access to their fathers.

Overall, a good book for early- to mid-teens. I wouldn't give it to a preteen (too many words, too much detail).

[Robert Hudder · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a just the facts science-y book with just a little on the complexities of relationships. Very good basic book to start from but does have a lot of pics, etc. Worthwhile for those folks who can have somewhat a discussion with their teens but whose teens may have a bit of an issue talking back.

A good way in to talking to them.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving this five stars because it held my attention and I learned things I didn’t even know I didn’t know. We had this book growing up, and the girls’ equivalent, and since I have a 13 year old son I thought I’d study up a bit when I saw this at a book sale. I wanted to read it myself before sharing with my son.

[flowsthead · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took extensive notes on this when I was trying to pick a good book for my younger brother to read. Out of the three puberty books I read, I found this particular book had some good chapters and some not. Not the best or worst of the ones I looked at.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta get ready for my son’s 11th birthday! 😝

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m going to give this to my 13-year-old and hope it will be helpful to him. I wish my parents would have given me a little more education. I hope it will answer any questions he might have.

[Mike Henry]

Read this and the one for girls with your kids or by yourself before the 'talk' it will help answer the questions.

[Nimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs more imagery

[Radiolab]

Radiolab asked listeners for their sex ed recommendations.

Ben, a Radiolab listener, says, "It gave me a lot of information that I wasn't comfortable asking my mom about. Also, it had some great slang terms for genitalia that it taught my friends and me...not sure the latest edition will still have this, but it was one of our favorite parts."

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intelligent, helpful guide for kids entering puberty. It explains body maturation for both boys and girls bodies-a good thing since kids are curious about what happens to each. One complaint: the book tends to downplay the embarrasment and discomfort of puberty, which is why I only gave it 3 stars. Still, a useful guide for kids and their parents.

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is helpfull for boys that are learning about them self. The wrote this book with information about puberty and your privite stuff. (you know what I mean!)It also has info about girls. The way I LIked the author doing this book is that she asked some ? and responed back. I think ya guys now this book.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too intense for my 11 year-old, or for me as his friend and babysitter. I noticed she has a book for younger boys, I'm going to check that out instead. I have ti say that it would be a pretty studious teen who would actually read this text-intensive book, but it certainly has a lot of good information.

[Radiolab]

Radiolab asked listeners for their sex ed recommendations.

Brandon, a Radiolab listener, says, "My mom slipped it under my door one day and we never spoke a word about it, but I found it incredibly informative and clear in the days before the internet was readily accessible."