What Makes a Baby: A Book for Every Kind of Family and Every Kind of Kid

I got this book for my 2 year old. There is no mention of gender in this entire book. The book does not show genitals or sex in any way. It says "some bodies have sperm in them, and some do not." With a picture of a completely androgynous person, with a little picture of a sperm close to where the sperm would really be in their body. I recommend this book for every kid in the world and stress that there is no such thing as being too young for this book. Older kids may like it as well, it isnt cheesy and uses real words.The only mention of genitals in this is the word "vagina" but it does not show one. It only talks about the fact that "some babies are born by coming out of a part of the body most people call the vagina" and it shows a picture of a midwife taking a baby out of the vagina in a birds eye view, so that we dont see the vagina. The opposite page shows a c section and explains that the doctor makes a hole, takes the baby out, and closes the hole. The picture is not scary and shows zero blood or gore, but is realistic and easy to see what is happening.There is a picture of the baby upside down inside of a person's body with the umbilical cord. They show a picture of a uterus and explain that some bodies have uteruses and some do not, and that babies grow inside the uterus. There is a picture with lots of people, and some of those people have a uterus and some do not in the picture. Again I stress that there is no gender in this book which is fantastic.The pictures are very colorful and fun, yet informative. The single only complaint I have is that it doesnt talk about the sperm going into the egg, but just the sperm dancing with the egg. After we read the words on that page I just always add "and then the sperm goes in the egg." I think thats all that's really needed.This book started a really nice conversation between my little one and I and now if I ask, my two year old can tell me which parent had an egg, and which parent had a sperm to make my little one and who had a uterus where my little one grew and got bigger and bigger (the book shows pictures of the stages of development) and then came out and how.This book also does not talk about "mommies and daddies" which is great since we have a Daddy and Shoey in our house, and no Mommy. I would recommend this book for families who adopted or had a surrogate, etc. It just talks about a sperm and an egg, but doesnt say anything about what kind of people "should" have a sperm or an egg or a uterus. There is no mention of male or female or intersex or man or woman, etc. It also shows a lot of different families, family members, and babies, but they are very diverse and a lot of them are very androgynous. I haven't looked too much but there may or may not be obviously gay couples, nonbinary couples, and families with 3 or more parents. Super duper inclusive.I love this book. It is absolutely perfect for our family. Perfect for your queer kids and gaybies too. xD

A must have in every toddler’s library. This book is an indispensable resource for teaching young children scientifically accurate information about basic reproduction. It presents facts that apply to all, regardless of family structure or method of conception. It does not reenforce gender norms, tie reproduction to marriage or even romantic love, and does not address the mechanics of sex. 10 stars.I recently learned that the authors have other books on the topic and will definitely be adding those to our library.

My daughter was donor conceived and I have never kept that hidden from her. She's now 7 and began asking a lot of questions about a year ago. It made me realize that even though it was never a secret, it also wasn't talked a lot about or part of our regular "story." I began searching for books that were age appropriate to help me explain things to her and this was recommended. It's a great book! It's age appropriate, accurately explains things, but does so in a way that kiddos can process the information, and includes brightly colored pictures and fun stories to keep their attention. It didn't match our circumstances exactly, but I don't expect any book to. It was a great foundation and I filled in the holes when needed. This is a wonderful book and I would recommend it a thousand times over!

This book is not without some minor flaws, but I still LOVE IT.By way of comparison...we have "It's not the stork" and have been reading parts of that to my 5-year-old for a few years now. And parts of that book are incredibly useful...but it's just really invested in linking everything to male/female anatomy and binary gender identity. "What makes a baby," though, is just about people--some of whom have sperm, some have eggs, and some have uteruses.I agree with some of the other reviewers that some parts of book are vague and maybe too whimsical--the idea that the sperm and the egg "dance together" and share stories of the bodies who made them is a bit fanciful. (But it's certainly easy enough to connect "the stories of our bodies" to DNA and genetics...it just might take a bit of explanation to get there.)But aside from the occasional wobble, this book succeeds at delivering an incredibly inclusive account of reproduction that fits many different bodies, many different genders, and many different kinds of families. In this way, it's a great starting point for additional conversations--which might include anatomy (which this book does not), gender identity, various ways to make a family, etc.I also love the illustrations, which are bold, colorful, and inclusive. Sure, they're not "anatomically correct" or always clearly gendered. But as a starting point for bigger, more detailed conversations, they don't need to be in this particular book.

This book is amazing. First off, it has bright colors and interesting pictures that kids will like. This book is good for any donor families, surrogate families, or any families built in a "non-traditional" way. We are a double-donor, LGBTQ family, and my wife carried our son. I am unaware of any books out there explaining our exact situation. This book accurately explains how babies are made, but it leaves things generic enough that it can fit any family or situation, just like it fits ours. Now we have a great starting point to explain our son's story to him when he gets a little older.

I collect children's books because I'm a teacher and intended parent. I have high standards. This text is good. I would have loved higher level vocabulary to be used like "genes" in addition to "stories".One line is, "Just like eggs and just like sperm,..." I want my future kiddos to be exposed to more grammatically correct language when they read informational texts, "Just like eggs and sperm,..." would have been more grammatically correct.I think the book is good, I just think it could easily be great and it's not quite there yet. There's only one sentence on each page. I think more content would have explained even more. I'd still recommend it and buy it.

I read this book to my kiddo for the first time last night. She's not-quite 3 years old. She loved it more than any other book I've read to her yet. She had a so much fun looking for the pictured bodies with an egg/sperm/uturus. She'd point & say "have" or "not have." When we got to the baby growing in the uterus she pointed out the baby getting "bigger, bigger, bigger." On the last page she pointed out all the babies.There's nothing inappropriate in this book, even for the youngest children. The book focuses on reproductive anatomy & reproduction rather than sex. The book doesn't mention how an egg & sperm get together, but my kid didn't question that yet. We'll tackle that one when she's older.The book was very mindfully written in a way that is inclusive & applicable for all types of families. (queer, adoptive, heteronormative nuclear families, everyone)100% would recommend this to anyone except parents who want to go with the false stork narrative; even heteronormative conservative families, but especially anyone concerned that their families wouldn't be represented in other books.

This book is fantastic. Got it for our almost 4 year old and just turned 2 year old who will be getting a younger sibling soon. Beautiful illustrations, but what I love most is how "body positive" this book is of EVERYONE. It talks about how some people have an egg inside them, some people have a uterus, some people have sperm. It DOES NOT say that only women have eggs or a uterus or only men have sperm. Which is great, because not all women have eggs or a uterus, not all men have sperm, and there are some biological males who identify as women and vice versa. I love that if my kids grow up to be someone who identifies as the opposite gender I won't have made them feel like there is something "wrong" with them by teaching them narrow-minded gender roles.The book does not describe sex (there is no mention of the actual act) but rather focuses more on the sperm and egg meeting, sharing a "dance" and telling each other all their stories. In the end, they have shared so much that now they are one thing and cannot be separated. There are a few illustrations of a baby at various points during gestation.The second thing I love about this book is that it talks about how the baby is born: both by c-section and vaginally. As one of my children was a c-section and the other a VBAC, I love having this beautiful, non-scary illustration to talk to them both about the different ways they came into this world.I would say this is a great book to get the conversation started with toddlers, pre-schoolers, and kindergartners when you aren't quite ready to get into the details of what sex actually is (but still need a way to answer their questions about where babies come from).

Great book to extend knowledge for our children ages 7 and 9. Goes into a little more detail without too much.

Super brilliant book for parents who are grappling how to explain it right!!Loved it! Everyone should read it for info!

Libro facile, colorato e molto carino. Ho spiegato a mia figlia (7 anni) dopo svariate domande come si fanno i bambini, con un linguaggio semplice senza raccontare fandonie e senza creare traumi. Top. È in inglese ma veramente easy.

This book was recommended to me and it didn't disappoint. We are just about to have another baby and our four year old started asking where she came from, what she is made of, how the baby got in my tummy. My daughter LOVES this book and reading it with her has helped to answer all of her questions on a very digestible level. I like that the book is honest and uses real terms to explain the basic process without having to explain about intercourse to a very young child. We read it several times a week, on her request, and now she is giving anyone who will listen a thorough education on human reproduction!! Great addition to our children's bookshelf.

My 3 year loves this book. We've read it so often it fell apart. Its perfectly aimed and kids explains things v clearly