It's So Amazing!

January 1, 2015

Gr 1 & Up-These highly acclaimed titles have been go-to guides for a whole generation of children, teens, and their parents wishing to address these delicate, often difficult-to-discuss topics. They are noteworthy for their straightforward and accessible style, reliable information, and warm, inclusive artwork. It's Perfectly Normal, which is geared toward children nearing puberty, has sold more than one million copies, been translated into more than 35 languages, and has been endorsed and used by teachers, librarians, clergy, health care and mental health professions across this country. It also has the distinction of being listed as #7 on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books of the 21st century. This edition has been revised for a new generation, including updates in scientific and medical information about reproduction, birth control, abortion, sexual abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases. Harris and Emberley have also included information on gender identity and online safety. It's So Amazing!, written for a younger audience, has also been revised to include up-to-date scientific and medical information and also addresses being online and using the Internet.

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August 2, 2004
In a starred review, PW
said, "The creators of It's Perfectly Normal
, targeted to middle-schoolers, here reach out to a slightly young audience with candor and humor, neatly distilling various aspects of sex, reproduction and love." Ages 7-up.

January 4, 1999
The creators of It's Perfectly Normal, targeted to middle-schoolers, here reach out to a slightly younger audience with candor and humor, neatly distilling various aspects of sex, reproduction and love. An inquisitive, loquacious bird and an embarrassed bee act as comic and straight man and serve as diverting foils to Harris's conversational narrative; kids will both identify with and chuckle at the two characters' reactions and asides. The duo's cheerful banter also clarifies some potentially confusing issues ("So the fetus doesn't grow where the pizza goes!" proclaims the newly enlightened bee). Specific topics covered include changes in boys' and girls' bodies during puberty, intercourse, birth control, chromosomes and genes, adoption and adjusting to a newborn sibling. The roster of experts in the closing acknowledgments speaks to the sensitivity and intelligence with which Harris and Emberley handle their treatment of masturbation, sexual abuse, HIV and AIDS and homosexuality. Emberley's artwork ranges from lighthearted cartoon panels of a talking sperm meeting up with an egg in the fallopian tube to straightforward drawings of reproductive organs and a developing fetus. With its informal yet informed perspective, this volume renders much "amazing" phenomena reassuringly comprehensible. Ages 7-up.

January 1, 2015
Celebrating our bodies and our sexuality for younger readers, this frank and nonjudgmental discussion is illustrated with anatomically correct cartoon drawings. The fifteenth-anniversary edition of this invaluable resource is Harris and Emberley's laudable attempt to keep the content "as up-to-date and accurate as possible." The updated text and art include a broader definition of gender and expanded information about using the internet. Ind.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2014
The original Horn Book review of the 1994 nonfiction book It's Perfectly Normal (rev. 3/95) aptly described it as an "unassuming, coherent, comprehensive explanation of sex in all its complicated glory." Harris and Emberley's 1999 book for slightly younger readers, It's So Amazing! (rev. 1/00), celebrates our bodies and our sexuality. Each book includes frank and nonjudgmental discussion of a wide range of topics illustrated with anatomically correct cartoon drawings. The new twentieth (Normal) and fifteenth (Amazing) anniversary editions of these invaluable resources are Harris and Emberley's laudable attempt to keep the content "as up-to-date and accurate as possible." Both books include updated text and art, a broader definition of the term gender, and expanded information about using the internet, while the fourth edition of Normal also includes new and updated information about contraception, abortion, sexual abuse, and the prevention and treatment of STDs, including HIV/AIDS. cynthia k. ritter

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)