It's Not the Stork!

The Family Library

$12.99

Author: Robie H. Harris

Illustrator: Michael Emberley

Please note that copies will ship after November 2, 2024 after the conclusion of the BookFest @ Bank Street 2024 event.

"In their previous landmark volumes . . . Harris and Emberley established themselves as the purveyors of reader-friendly, straightforward information on human sexuality for readers as young as seven. Here they successfully tackle the big questions . . . for even younger kids." — The Horn Book (starred review)

Young children are curious about almost everything, especially their bodies. And young children are not afraid to ask questions. What makes me a girl? What makes me a boy? Why are some parts of girls' and boys' bodies the same and why are some parts different? How was I made? Where do babies come from? Is it true that a stork brings babies to mommies and daddies? 

It's Not the Stork! helps answer these endless and perfectly normal questions that preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary school children ask about how they began. Through lively, comfortable language and sensitive, engaging artwork, Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley address readers in a reassuring way, mindful of a child's healthy desire for straightforward information. Two irresistible cartoon characters, a curious bird and a squeamish bee, provide comic relief and give voice to the full range of emotions and reactions children may experience while learning about their amazing bodies. Vetted and approved by science, health, and child development experts, the information is up-to-date, age-appropriate, and scientifically accurate, and always aimed at helping kids feel proud, knowledgeable, and comfortable about their own bodies, about how they were born, and about the family they are part of.
Back matter includes an index.

Quotes/Reviews

Straightforward, informative, and personable…This book will be accessible to its intended audience, comforting in its clarity and directness, and useful to a wide range of readers.
School Library Journal (starred review)

Harris’ respectful writing targets children’s natural curiosity without cloaking matters in obfuscating language.
Booklist (starred review)

In their previous landmark volumes . . . Harris and Emberley established themselves as the purveyors of reader-friendly, straightforward information on human sexuality for readers as young as seven. Here they successfully tackle the big questions . . . for even younger kids.
The Horn Book (starred review)

An excellent introduction to babies’ origins for youngest curious minds.
Publishers Weekly (featured in Children’s Notes: True Companions)

Emberley's cartoon cast, a celebration of demographic diversity, do double duty as helpful diagrams of body parts and fetal development, and as examples of loving families in action.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

A happy addition to the Harris-Emberley family.
Kirkus Reviews