Books for All Bodies

When it comes to bodies, kids have a lot of questions. Toddlers want to know what body parts are called, preschoolers may ask how babies are made, school-aged children are starting to wonder about puberty, and teens need to understand sex, relationships, and consent. Many of the books that parents in this generation have grown up with, however, tended to leave a lot of bodies and families out of the conversation. Luckily, we’re now seeing a whole range of diverse and inclusive body books emerge, for young people of all ages.

Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries has partnered with Parents of Trans, Two Spirit, and Gender Diverse Kids peer support group to bring you some of our favourite inclusive titles about bodies, babies, puberty, and sex.

[Note: An earlier version of this article appeared in The Telegram (October 16, 2021) as part of NLPL's monthly column. It can be accessed with your library card via PressReader. It has been updated to add newly published titles as of June 2022.]

Updated June 14, 2023
Newfoundland & Labrador Public LibrariesNLPL Pride
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What makes a baby : a book for every kind of family and every kind of kid /
Silverberg, Cory
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2014 Lambda Award for LGBT Children's/Young Adult "What Makes a Baby is extraordinary! Cory is a Dr. Spock for the 21st century."-Susie Bright "A Truly Inclusive Way to Answer the Question 'Where Do Babies Come From?'-The new book What...

Ages 2-7

A simple yet engaging narrative that provides a framework for families to fill in their own details about how their child came into their family. The wording is gender-inclusive (“some people have a uterus”) and inclusive of all family types and conception/birth/adoption stories. However, if you are looking to introduce names of body parts, or how the sperm gets to the egg, you may find this book lacking in details.

Sex is a funny word : a book about bodies, feelings, and YOU /
Silverberg, Cory
Paper Book
2016 Winner of theNorma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction 2016 ALA Stonewall Book Award, Honor Book 2016 ALA Notable Children's Book A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender...

Ages 8-12

An engaging and inclusive graphic novel about bodies and body changes, gender identity, consent, crushes and relationships. This book discusses sex through the lenses of respect, trust, joy and justice, with ongoing discussions of consent and privacy. It includes diverse representations of gender, sexuality, culture, race, and ability, and uses inclusive language like “some bodies have vulvas and some don’t.” The section on safety and ‘secret touching’ has suggestions for talking about unwanted touch and ideas for alternatives to hugs. One caveat - kids in the older range may have questions that go beyond the scope of this book. Though ‘sex’ is in the title, the book does not describe sexual activity, and sexual identities are only defined in the glossary. (Good news — a third book in this series is coming in 2022 called “You Know, Sex.”)

You Know, Sex : Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things.
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Paper Book
A completely new approach to learning about puberty, sex, and gender for children 10+.

Ages 8-12

This is the latest from Cory Silverberg, with more of a focus on puberty, gender and changing bodies.

"The puberty, anatomy, and reproduction chapters include trans, nonbinary, and intersex bodies and experience, and all of it takes place in our contemporary, media-saturated world (aka, there’s lots of smart phones and social media). Racially and ethnically diverse, inclusive of cross-disability experience, You Know, Sex is a book for every kind of young person and every kind of family—essential for kids, everyone who knows a kid, and anyone who has ever been a kid." [Publisher's Description]

S.E.X. : the all-you-need-to-know sexuality guide to get you through your teens
Corinna, Heather.
Ebook
The go-to sex ed guide for teens and young adults, tackling everything you want to know about sex, from consent, safe sex, emotional health and more, from the founder of scarleteen.com. As a teen or emerging adult, dealing with all the changes going on in your life, body, and...

Ages 16+

This is one of our favourite reads - a thorough, nuanced, and empowering reference book on sex, identity, and relationships, inclusive of all genders and all sexualities. While designed for teens and young adults, even parents may learn a thing or two from this thoughtful text! Fourteen chapters cover essential topics for young people who are thinking about or beginning to have sex, including body image, sexual and gender identity, consent, respect, sexual health, anatomy, the how-tos of many sexual activities, contraception, pregnancy, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence. It also includes one of the best explanations we’ve read on how to recognize that you may be in an emotionally abusive relationship.

A quick & easy guide to queer & trans identities [graphic novel] /
G, Mady
Paper Book
A great starting point for anyone curious about queer and trans life, and helpful for those already on their own journeys! In this quick and easy guide to queer and trans identities, cartoonists Mady G and Jules Zuckerberg guide you through the basics of the LGBT+ world! Covering...

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