Description Hide Description- Show Description+
A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender identies, ''Sex Is a Funny Word'' is an essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 7 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers.
With the recurrent theme of “trust, joy, justice, and respect”, ''Sex Is a Funny Word'' provides what many parents lack, and what all children need: ways to normalize the discussion of sex, and to think and talk about it in ways that are inclusive of a wide range of perspectives. The language used in this book is inclusive of ability, LGBT, gender creative, gender queer, kids who don't know how they feel yet, and kids who just don't care about it. The playful illustrations provide characters of varied ethnicities (including one who does not identify as either boy or girl) that kids can identify with as it explores topics such as anatomy, transgender, and child sexual abuse.
Illustrations show and explain body parts of kids and grown-ups - nipples, breasts, bottoms, and parts biologically specific to boys or girls - but also addresses how gender and sex are social constructs. With the rise of transgender awareness, many children are more likely to be curious about variations in gender, and some might already be questioning their own. ''Sex Is A Funny Word'' suggests ways for parents and kids, especially those who don’t easily fit the binary mold, to think about the spectrum of gender identities. The section on touch distinguishes between friendly, helpful touch, pleasurable touch, i.e., masturbation, and secret touch i.e. child sexual abuse, a topic that parents often struggle with and that most sex advice books for children skirt or ignore. The text allows kids to progress at their own pace, and question pages at the end of each chapter highlight issues that children commonly have, and help parents think about appropriate responses.
The informal, inclusive approach of this book by sex educator Cory Silverberg and artist Fiona Smyth is enhanced with lively design, bright, clashing colors, cartoon-style illustrations, comic strips, and plenty of humor.
Hardcover, Full Colour, 159 Pages, Published 2015
Written by: Cory Silverberg Illustrated by: Fiona Smyth