The Girls' Guide to Growing Up: the best-selling puberty guide for girls

This is the perfect little book for my fourth-grade daughter. So glad I bought it. I wanted her to be informed about human biology as she will enter middle school next year, but I wasn't sure how to explain everything from periods, matters and details of hygiene, to how babies are made without making her (or me, maybe) feel awkward. I have mom friends who are great at such explanations, while I have to think for quite some time how to say what and when. As she is reading the book, I can now talk to her about the content. She likes reading it so far. The content covers everything from the body changes to expect from puberty to where babies come from in short, factual, effective, child-appropriate, and friendly phrasing. The author succeeds at making girls feel normal about their soon-to-change bodies and gives them the information they need to understand what is going on. The illustrations show enough to support the text but without making the reading experience "weird." It is an informative book that even featured a fact or two (about the brain) that I wasn't aware of. Overall, the book normalizes puberty and girl's bodies, assures girls that they have control (to shave or not, to use different menstrual products that suit them, to continue sports), leaves room for inclusion (girls might find themselves thinking about a boy or a girl as they get older), addresses that boys undergo significant changes too, and provides the groundwork for other discussions we need to have with our kids as they grow older (it mentions that adults may use birth control to not have babies but does not go into detail).

The book is short and gives really a cliffs notes overview of the changes ahead. I liked it because it was clear enough for my 8 year old to understand and easy for me to explain. We both made it through it in one sitting without too much embarrassment and only the attack of the giggles twice. We got through it in one sitting and I stopped to ask questions along the way and I think because the material was presented concisely and simply she was able to ask questions easily. This is by no means a be all end all book. But for an 8 year old its perfect. Simple, not too much detail, no talk of boyfriends. It doesn't talk of marriage which seriously most of us have had sex outside of marriage. It does have 2 pages on boy puberty which I actually appreciated. I think girls should understand boys are also going through changes. I'm assuming the boy version of this book does the same thing. Both sexes should understand they are both physically and emotionally a hot mess. My only nitpick is the male genitals are so badly drawn I had to go into greater detail than I would have liked to describe how they actually look. Overall I recommend the book if you have a kid on the younger side and are the type of parent who appreciates frank discussions.

Bought this for my 10 and 11 year old who have not went through any puberty changes yet. They know about periods and what happens but this book does a great job of explaining everything and the pictures are informative. It does have a section that explains sex. If my daughters were 8-9 I don’t know if I would want them reading that part just yet because it’s very detailed. I also didn’t realize this book was written/from outside the US before buying. So measurements and weights mentioned wasn’t in pounds and inches. It wasn’t a big deal because I can help my daughters convert it but it might be confusing if younger girls read it alone.

Read it with my 9 y.o. daughter. We had already discussed sex and periods but I'm not a doctor so it was helpful for explaining in more details about the biology aspects. It is written in British English so beware some words are spelled with an extra 'u' like 'labour' and 'colour' and then my daughter was confused what 'knickers' are (underwear) until I told her which we then had to reread that section so she understood what it was explaining.

My 9 year old daughter didn’t want to put this down. I didn’t realize she was ready to talk about these things, but she absolutely was! I introduced the book to her and we read a few pages together and then I caught her reading it on her own. She felt weird about the sex pages, but I was so glad she came and told me how she felt. I was nervous talking to her about it too, but I’m glad I prepared her for what’s to come by using this book! Great resource!

Within the first 20 pages, it was clear that this author was leading me on a different type of learning experience. It feels spacious, reverent, and respectful of my opinions. I believe I’m learning more because I’m not triggered into defending my existing point points of view. Not that this is common for me, but I often find authors, more concerned with asserting the rightness of their opinion than offering it up for collaborative consideration. This is definitely the ladder.

This book is great, but it might be a bit too advanced for an 8-year-old. (Maybe it's my fault for not checking the age guidelines before buying it.) There were some parts that were like "Whoa!" ✋️ we had to stop and close the book.. but other than that, we did alot of talking about body changes, new emotions and outbursts. It did make teaching her about "the birds and the bees" a lot easier. I think it helped both of us understand what she's going through. I'd recommend it.

I love these books for introducing puberty, periods and sex to my kids. I got the girls and boys books. It is short, concise, and easy to understand. Pictures are informative without being graphic. Yes my kids were embarrassed and giggling through most of it but the book helps ease the embarrassment for both of us. I am a nurse and know it's important for kids to understand their bodies. Im very happy with this book.

This book is one of the best investment I ever bought for my daughter, they explain things in a way that my daughter understands I am happy for my purchase

Muy bonitas ilustraciones y descripciones.

It's truly a great book for girls who just got their period and are curious for more.

The book explains very well and in a very gentle language everything a girl going through puberty should know. Definitely recommend!

Great book. Helps start the conversation with my daughter (age 9). Allows for open discussion or for her to read as much as she wants to.