Disclosure: I received these books to review. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

Growing up is such an important time of a child’s development. It’s often the time of life that parents most dread because children are becoming young adults. The change occurs so gradually that you might not even notice when your child starts to need deodorant. The mood swings might have become so commonplace that you attribute it to personality rather than hormones. At any rate, you’ll probably want to think about a way to broach those uncomfortable subjects that are often referred to as “The Talk.”

I received the books Growing Up God’s Way for Boys and Growing Up God’s Way for Girls to review. Since my daughter is a tween, this is a relevant topic for us. She knows the basics, yet there are going to still be questions along the way.  I want her to feel comfortable asking me about things.  I also want her to have Christian resources to find the information she wants so that she doesn’t resort to searching online.   The illustration on the cover made me think this would be a benign book that covered only the most general topics, perhaps for younger children.  However, these pages held much more information than I expected!  Issues are explained in a fairly clinical way although clearly biased toward the Christian view.  As a parent, it would be important for you to read through these books and address the issues with your child.  Please don’t just hand it over and expect your child to glean the necessary information.  The subject matter goes much deeper than necessary in my opinion.  For a book about puberty, it’s fairly graphic (in a scientific way) in explaining how intercourse takes place.  The authors also make the assumption that children reading this book come from a 2-parent traditional home.  For example, when explaining the need for feminine products, the book suggests that the teen’s mother will buy those.  What if the reader doesn’t have a mother in the home?  I’d prefer wording such as “a grown up will help you get these products.”   The two books are very similar in the stance taken by the author.  There are a few areas that target key gender roles in quite a specific way.  I didn’t necessarily agree with all of the information as it was presented, so again I implore you to read these books yourself before assuming that the ideas will align with your views.

There’s also a strong tendency toward stereotypes in these books.  Yes, we all realize that PMS is a real phenomenon, but why put it in the heads of children?  I think it would be better to stick with the facts about hormones rather than allow them to become an excuse.  Because it’s already happening in my house and I don’t want it to be in print, too!    I noticed that there was a strange absence of birth control methods discussed in these books.  Now, I don’t really think that the topic belongs in a basic book about puberty so normally I’d be glad that it wasn’t mentioned.  If the authors are going to detail the specifics about fertilization, though, it stands to reason that the reader should also know that there are ways to prevent unwanted conception.

I’m really ambivalent about my feelings toward these books.  I like the idea of having a Christian perspective on the whole puberty issue.  My kids have been taught that there are lots of kinds of families and they all love each other.  These books address such topics in biblical ways but definitely put a twist on the matter.   Be aware that these are UK books, so the spelling is different from the US words.  Would these books be right for you and your family?  I think they’re a good resource but should not be the only books upon which you rely for having “The Talk” with your kids.