It's So Amazing
Robie Harris & Michael Emberley

This oversized, attractive guide on reproduction and birth answers common questions such as "Exactly what is sex?" and "Where does the baby actually come out?" The familiar enthusiastic bird and reluctant bee narrate the comic cartoon panels, eventually deciding that the miracles of birth, families, and love are just "so amazing." Readers will appreciate the life-size illustration of a full-term fetus, and adults will be grateful for the many different ways the author portrays situations not always easy to explain to children. People are represented with a variety of body shapes and ethnicity, and Harris discusses sexual preferences and alternative family situations. While the illustrations are engaging and often hilarious, factual information is effectively presented in a clear, nonjudgmental tone that will inform and assure readers. Topics covered include basic anatomy, conception, fetal development, birth, genetics, adoption, and love. Sexual abuse and HIV are sensitively mentioned in short, informative chapters. This is an essential guide that will delight, inform and appeal to young readers as well as adults. - Review by Katie O'Dell, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 88 pages
Publisher: Candlewick 2004
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0763613211