I’m a Boy, Special Me (Ages 5-7): Anatomy For Kids Book Introduces Boy Anatomy, Importance Of Protecting His Body And Pre Puberty Lessons. 2nd Edition (2019)

I have the first two books of the “girl” series for my daughter and happily waited for this updated version to be released for my son. The storyline is a boy and his friends are talking to the boy’s parents, wondering what his (pregnant) mom will find out at her ultrasound (boy or girl). The kids muse aloud how the doctor can tell, and the mom offers to have her friend (a doctor who teaches anatomy) speak more to the kids. Now, in reality that would be a far fetched scenario but it helps set up the rest of the book where the Dr friend gives the boys a basic overview of their anatomy. It begins with some ways boys and girls are similar and then moves to how boys are unique. Protecting oneself from inappropriate touching is also discussed.I find these to be perfectly age appropriate (I leaned towards the upper end of the age spectrum for my two) and an easy way to lay a foundation of conversation with my children. The parent is involved but slightly removed via the storyline, which is helpful if you or your child find these conversations difficult to begin. Emphasis is on facts - there is a disclaimer that “these learning resources are not intended to promote any specific moral or cultural perspective....[the author/publisher considers] that a parent or other concerned adult would prefer to provide that guidance themselves.”This book mentions sperm and simply states that it is needed to help make babies but does not go into any detail of that process (we have livestock so they do actually have an idea). It glosses through that quickly and doesn’t specify that they can’t make babies now. The girl books we’ve read so far do frame development in that context (your body is changing in ways that might one day help make a baby - not a direct quote), so I personally incorporated that “future tense” stance here as well.

This book is fine for what it is - naming the penis, testicles, and scrotum. However, it does nothing beyond that.My biggest concern is that it shows a penis with foreskin but instead of using the word "foreskin," it instead says it is a penis with "extra skin." The circumcised penis is labeled as "no extra skin." If an intact child is reading this, he would not see his penis as being normal - instead, it has something "extra" on it.In addition, although this is a book geared toward helping boys understand their bodies, it is baffling that there is no mention of girls' bodies at key points. For example, a sentence reads, "babies come from sperm made in the testicles." That is an incomplete sentence that could easily be fixed with the addition of "and eggs made in a woman's ovaries." On another page, the boys in the story say "Girls don't have penises!" To which the doctor replies, "That's right...They also don't have testicles, but boys do." Well sure, but do we need to perpetuate silence about women's bodies? Again, this could be easily fixed by naming that girls instead have a vulva, vagina, uterus, and ovaries.For something being marketed to 5 - 7 year olds, I expected more.

Overall, it is an excellent book. However, I have two quibbles. 1. The text says that Dr. M "shows" the boys several anatomy figures. (And the figures, which are on pages separate from the drawings of Dr. M and the boys, are nice and simple.) But none of the drawings of Dr. M and the boys depict her holding anything--no book, no pamphlet, no papers. By the way, I made the same quibble about the parallel book for girls.2. The book mentions that boys' testicles make sperm and that sperm "are needed to help make babies" but nothing further about how sperm help make babies. Given that sexual intercourse might be better left to the books intended for older boys, why mention sperm at all? Perhaps this is a good compromise to mention that sperm are made in the testicles, which are inside the scrotum--the pouch of skin--which is visible, but nothing further.

I got this for my 5 year old son. I was very disappointed about the information regarding the intact body. It describes foreskin, a natural part of the body, as “extra skin”. The foreskin has over 14 functions and the book makes it seem so trivial. I won’t be reading this to our son

This is definitely not what I was looking for. Especially being for ages 5-7, I do not see the importance of boys that age learning about sperm and where It is made. I was looking for a much broader spectrum book about boys anatomy not physiology.

Not impressed with the information on the book and the "story" was odd.

I got this book hoping it would be a simple way to explain body and boundaries to my son. But it’s a bit mature and I will need to simplify

I am so impressed with the way Dr Metten. She has done a wonderful job teaching young children about their bodies in a step by step process that is age appropriate. If you are looking for a series that opens up conversation with your littles about their bodies. . . THIS IS IT!Thank you Dr. Metten for your work! (and the updated art work is beautiful)

Not as much anatomy and detail to conversations as i wanted.