Recommended Reading List

For the complete list of recommended reading materials, click here (PDF).

For Parents

Beyond the Big Talk: Every Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Teens
Debra W. Haffner, Newmarket Press, 2001.

From Diapers to Dating: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Youth (2nd. Edition)
Debra Haffner. Newmarket Press, 2008.

What Every 21st-Century Parent Needs to Know: Facing Today’s Challenges with Wisdom and Heart
Debra W. Haffner. Newmarket, 2008.


For older children, preteens and teens: GIRLS

American Medical Association Girl’s Guide to Becoming a Teen
Kate Gruenwald, Jossey-Bass, 2006.


The Period Book: Everything You Don’t Want to Ask (But Need to Know)
Karen Gravelle and Jennifer Gravelle with illustrations by Debbie Palen. Walker and Company, 1996.


For older children, preteens and teens: BOYS

American Medical Association Boy’s Guide to Becoming a Teen
Kate Gruenwald Pfeifer, Jossey-Bass, 2006.

What’s Going on Down There? Answers to Questions Boys Find Hard to Ask
Karen Graville with Nick and Chava Castro and illustrated by Robert Leighton, Walker and Company, 1998.


For older children, preteens and teens: GIRLS AND BOYS

It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Sex and Sexual Health
Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberly, Candlewick Press, 2004.

Too Old for This, Too Young for That! Your Survival Guide for the Middle-School Years
Harriet S. Mosatche and Karen Unger, Free Spirit Publishing, 2005.

What If Someone I Know Is Gay? Answers to Questions about Gay and Lesbian People
Eric Marcus, Penguin Putnam Incorporated, 2000.


For younger children

Amazing You! Getting Smart About Your Private Parts
Gail Saltz, M.D. and illustrated by Lynne Cravath, Dutton Publishing, 2005.

Bellybuttons Are Navels
Mark Schoen and illustrated by M.J. Quay, Prometheus Books, 1990.

Did the Sun Shine Before You Were Born?
Sol and Judith Gordon, Prometheus Books, 1992.

It’s NOT the Stork! A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families, and Friends
Robie Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley, Candlewick Press, 2005.

It’s So Amazing! : A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families
Robie Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley, Candlewick Press, 2002.

Also available in Spanish, ¡Es Alucinante!

Molly’s Family
Nancy Garden, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing, 2004.