This article contains sexually explicit material.
People learn about sex in different ways. If you’re not getting a vague “birds and the bees” talk from your parents or hearing about it from older kids, you’re learning about it from a sterile (and often non-informative) classroom discussion.
If you grew up in the early 1970s, however, you may have gotten your first dose of uncensored sex education from somewhere unexpected: a children’s book.
Titled How a Baby is Made, this book by Danish writer Per Holm Knudsen does not beat around the bush (pun intended, considering this was the 1970s). If you’re a parent dreading the birds and bees conversation, you can show your kids this book, provided you get over the initial cringe factor.
It starts off harmlessly enough.
But after just a page, the book quickly gets rather graphic, naming sexual body parts without bothering with euphemisms. If you’re not used to explicitly talking about sex, it could get pretty awkward.
It even explores birthing options.
In case your kid has a hard time wrapping their head around the fact that they came from inside you, the children’s book provides a memorable (and extremely explicit) visualization.
Unsurprisingly, the book has made waves on social media, garnering a smattering of comments ranging from “WTF did I just look at” to “Why are they having sex with their eyes open?” Still, it offers an undeniably refreshing and straightforward approach to sex ed that’s woefully missing from our current public school sex ed curricula.
If you appreciate the value of How a Baby is Made‘s frankness, you can purchase a copy of the book for about $77. If that’s too steep a price for a children’s book, consider showing your child an animated version instead, complete with soothing background music and voiceover.
And since you’ve opened the flood gates to open and honest communication, consider showing them this episode of a Norwegian sex ed show, so they can learn how to make out with a tomato.
H/T Cstar/Facebook | Screengrab via Eric Benedict/Vimeo