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What Makes a Baby
What Makes a Baby is a children’s picture book about where babies come from, written by sexuality educator Cory Silverberg and illustrated by award-winning Canadian artist Fiona Smyth.
Geared to readers from pre-school to about 8 years old, it teaches curious kids about conception, gestation, and birth in a way that works regardless of whether or not the kid in question was adopted, conceived using reproductive technologies at home or in a clinic, through surrogacy, or any of the other wondrous ways we make babies these days, and regardless of how many people were involved, their orientation, gender and other identity, or family composition.
Just as important, the story doesn’t gender people or body parts, so most parents and families will find that it leaves room for them to educate their child without having to erase their own experience.
Geared to readers from pre-school to about 8 years old, it teaches curious kids about conception, gestation, and birth in a way that works regardless of whether or not the kid in question was adopted, conceived using reproductive technologies at home or in a clinic, through surrogacy, or any of the other wondrous ways we make babies these days, and regardless of how many people were involved, their orientation, gender and other identity, or family composition.
Just as important, the story doesn’t gender people or body parts, so most parents and families will find that it leaves room for them to educate their child without having to erase their own experience.
36 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2012
19 people are currently reading
1474 people want to read
About the author
Cory Silverberg
7 books149 followersRaised in the 1970s by a children's librarian and a sex therapist, Cory Silverberg grew up to be a sex educator, an author, and queer person who smiles a lot when they talk. Cory received a master's degree in education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Cory is the co-author of four books, including the ALA Stonewall Honor Book Sex Is a Funny Word, What Makes a Baby, and most recently, You Know, Sex, all with Fiona Smyth. Their life is full of kids. All of them know where babies come from. Some know more.
Cory is the co-author of four books, including the ALA Stonewall Honor Book Sex Is a Funny Word, What Makes a Baby, and most recently, You Know, Sex, all with Fiona Smyth. Their life is full of kids. All of them know where babies come from. Some know more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
July 29, 2021
This book is on my Bookshop list of LGBTQ-Friendly Kids Books!
I kind of love the bad reviews for this book, because they are almost all written by people who clearly just don't get it. A book that explains conception without conflating sex and gender, that is inclusive of trans folks and folks who conceive through non-traditional means, is sorely needed. It's not difficult to understand and I have seen plenty of kids "get" it after reading this, so I have to believe that the grown adults who report problems are over-thinking, and over-reliant on the sexed-bodies-have-intercourse model to boot.
I agree with some of the critical comments about the de-racialized, multi-colored people depicted in the book, but I think that's something you and your kids can discuss. I wish it depicted more realistic people, but I still feel the book fills a much-needed gap and is successful in its goals.
I kind of love the bad reviews for this book, because they are almost all written by people who clearly just don't get it. A book that explains conception without conflating sex and gender, that is inclusive of trans folks and folks who conceive through non-traditional means, is sorely needed. It's not difficult to understand and I have seen plenty of kids "get" it after reading this, so I have to believe that the grown adults who report problems are over-thinking, and over-reliant on the sexed-bodies-have-intercourse model to boot.
I agree with some of the critical comments about the de-racialized, multi-colored people depicted in the book, but I think that's something you and your kids can discuss. I wish it depicted more realistic people, but I still feel the book fills a much-needed gap and is successful in its goals.
July 29, 2013
I adored this book.
I love the fact that the author completely bipasses any gender binary that society clings to as truth. Silverberg talks about the fact that not all people have eggs, only some do; and not all people have sperm, but some do. (Clearly this welcomes trans-parents into the conversation here, too.) Silverberg talks about the egg and sperm meeting to make a baby, but does not tell how they meet. This opens a wonderful opportunity to talk about how we were born (Did our parents have sex? Find a surrogate mother? Was a parent artificially inseminated?), because indeed, there is not just one way for babies to be made.
The author's occasional question to the reader "Who was happy it was you who grew?" and "Who was waiting for you to be born?" again welcome that wonderful discussion between child and adult builds a bond on so many different levels.
And yes, the multi-colored people are awesome, too. Thank you, Cory Silverberg, for making a book for all families, no matter what your family looks like.
I love the fact that the author completely bipasses any gender binary that society clings to as truth. Silverberg talks about the fact that not all people have eggs, only some do; and not all people have sperm, but some do. (Clearly this welcomes trans-parents into the conversation here, too.) Silverberg talks about the egg and sperm meeting to make a baby, but does not tell how they meet. This opens a wonderful opportunity to talk about how we were born (Did our parents have sex? Find a surrogate mother? Was a parent artificially inseminated?), because indeed, there is not just one way for babies to be made.
The author's occasional question to the reader "Who was happy it was you who grew?" and "Who was waiting for you to be born?" again welcome that wonderful discussion between child and adult builds a bond on so many different levels.
And yes, the multi-colored people are awesome, too. Thank you, Cory Silverberg, for making a book for all families, no matter what your family looks like.
January 8, 2020
My coworker and I enjoyed hate-reading this at the library tonight. It's amazingly terrible, with creepy-looking, vague drawings of people in various bright and unnatural colors, over-personified sperm and eggs who dance together and contain within them all the "stories" of the mother and father, and flowery, poetic text that is vague, unscientific, and unhelpful.
The most amazing thing about this book is its complete refusal to acknowledge that sperm comes from biological men and that only a biological woman has a uterus and eggs. According to this author, some people have sperm and some people have a uterus, and I suppose that it's up to the child to discover later in life that this is divided down biological lines. This attempt at inculsivity ignores basic science and teaches almost nothing about procreation.
I would rather sit a child down and explain procreation to them in my own words than ever use this creepy, weird-looking, noneducational book. Also, even though plenty of people in the reviews section are gushing over how inclusive this book is, they are appreciating it from the perspective of adults who already understand the process of sexual reproduction. This author's attempt to avoid all references to gender may seem brave and world-changing to them, but they already understand how biology functions, unlike the children who are going to be deeply confused by this book.
The most amazing thing about this book is its complete refusal to acknowledge that sperm comes from biological men and that only a biological woman has a uterus and eggs. According to this author, some people have sperm and some people have a uterus, and I suppose that it's up to the child to discover later in life that this is divided down biological lines. This attempt at inculsivity ignores basic science and teaches almost nothing about procreation.
I would rather sit a child down and explain procreation to them in my own words than ever use this creepy, weird-looking, noneducational book. Also, even though plenty of people in the reviews section are gushing over how inclusive this book is, they are appreciating it from the perspective of adults who already understand the process of sexual reproduction. This author's attempt to avoid all references to gender may seem brave and world-changing to them, but they already understand how biology functions, unlike the children who are going to be deeply confused by this book.
June 5, 2013
Ghastly, ugly, vague, confusing. I wish someone would write a book for preschool children that explains various ways that human reproduction occurs without nonsensical depictions of tree stumps inside of sperm or unspooled film inside of eggs and such.
We need a book people can use to answer children's questions. We don't need this one.
We need a book people can use to answer children's questions. We don't need this one.
October 5, 2018
So determined to be inclusive that it forgets to be accurate or useful.
This is another one of those books about reproduction that leaves out all the important parts. It's easy enough to say that some people have sperm in them and some people have eggs in them and then you put the sperm and the eggs together and then you put them in a uterus (which some people have) and then a baby may or may not develop out of that. That's not hard to talk about. Biologically, it might be hard to understand, but most people wouldn't blush at saying that sort of thing. The hard part to talk about is the sex part. And this book just glosses over sex like it's not even a part of having babies. Okay, so it's true that not all babies are conceived via sex, but the vast majority of people in the world have sex at some point in their lives. It's important to point out that babies might happen because of it. There's a section called "For the grown-up reader" and it specifically says, "It doesn't include information about sexual intercourse, donor insemination, fertility treatments, surrogacy, or adoption." Those are the hard parts! I don't need a book to help me explain the easy parts! It's not hard to say something like, "Your daddy planted a seed in your mommy." And this book is even less detailed than that. "Not all bodies have eggs in them. Some do, and some do not." And the things it deigns to discuss, it does strangely. The egg has "stories all about the body the egg came from." Which is a metaphor that kind of describes DNA? But not really? DNA isn't really a story about the body. It's more of a blueprint, or even a parts list, of how the body needs to be built. And the fact that it mentions uteruses separately from eggs makes it seem like at least three people are needed to make a baby: one for the egg, one for the sperm, and one for the uterus. Over 99% of the time, the uterus and the egg come from the same person. Certainly, all three of them cannot come from the same person (at least with current technology), and I'm not sure it's biologically possible for the sperm and uterus to come from the same person. This kind of vagueness, while certainly inclusive of transgender people and intersex people, just leads to confusion. How is a child supposed to know whether or not they have a uterus? Uterus and ovaries are kind of a package deal, unless there are rare complications.
So the sperm and the egg have "stories" inside them. The illustrations imply that the stories are about the life that the parent has lived up until that point (showing a puppet show, and a film strip or series of photos of the mother, for example), which is absolutely inaccurate. And "when an egg and a sperm meet, they swirl together in a special kind of dance. As they dance they talk to each other. The egg tells the sperm all the stories it has to tell about the body it came from. And the sperm tells the egg all the stories it has to tell about the body it came from. When their dance is done they are not two things anymore. They danced around and shared so much that they became one brand new thing." Sort of a cute metaphor, but that's not how it works. They don't "tell each other" anything. They combine together on a cellular level, creating new chromosomes that give directions about how to build a new body. It's kind of pointless to talk about the "stories" or DNA, without explaining why they're important, and how they work together to make the new thing. How the DNA of the children relates to the DNA of the parent, and why children often look like their parents in certain ways.
Then it talks about the baby developing and getting bigger, and then how sometimes the baby is ready to come out on its own, or sometimes a doctor decides that it's time. Then, "Some babies are born by coming out through a part of the body that most people call the vagina." MOST people? I mean, yeah, slang terms exist, but if we're talking people who speak the English language, EVERYONE calls it that. It's like saying, "You see with an organ that most people call the eyes." Not. Accurate.
It mentions cesareans, which is good. It mentions that sometimes the birth hurts (an understatement, but accurate). But their lack of talking about adoption comes back to bite them here, when they're not vague enough. "Who was waiting for you to be born?" the book asks the reader. For adopted children, they might not know. That might be a painful question for them. I get that it's trying to tie the disjointed bits of the book to the child listener's life, but that's a hell of an assumption. "Who helped to bring together the sperm and the egg that made you? Who was happy that it was YOU who grew?" Maybe the mother wanted a girl instead of a boy. It happens.
It's just so bizarre, the things that the author decides to include and the things that they decide to leave out. It's not very useful if all it does is tackle the easy part. If I bought this book hoping that it would help me explain sex to my children, I would be sorely disappointed. Because it does not do that. It provides an extremely brief overview of the biological components of making babies, and that's it. I respect their attempt to be inclusive of all genders, but their execution leads to distortion and confusion of statistically relevant facts.
Message: Something something babies?
This is another one of those books about reproduction that leaves out all the important parts. It's easy enough to say that some people have sperm in them and some people have eggs in them and then you put the sperm and the eggs together and then you put them in a uterus (which some people have) and then a baby may or may not develop out of that. That's not hard to talk about. Biologically, it might be hard to understand, but most people wouldn't blush at saying that sort of thing. The hard part to talk about is the sex part. And this book just glosses over sex like it's not even a part of having babies. Okay, so it's true that not all babies are conceived via sex, but the vast majority of people in the world have sex at some point in their lives. It's important to point out that babies might happen because of it. There's a section called "For the grown-up reader" and it specifically says, "It doesn't include information about sexual intercourse, donor insemination, fertility treatments, surrogacy, or adoption." Those are the hard parts! I don't need a book to help me explain the easy parts! It's not hard to say something like, "Your daddy planted a seed in your mommy." And this book is even less detailed than that. "Not all bodies have eggs in them. Some do, and some do not." And the things it deigns to discuss, it does strangely. The egg has "stories all about the body the egg came from." Which is a metaphor that kind of describes DNA? But not really? DNA isn't really a story about the body. It's more of a blueprint, or even a parts list, of how the body needs to be built. And the fact that it mentions uteruses separately from eggs makes it seem like at least three people are needed to make a baby: one for the egg, one for the sperm, and one for the uterus. Over 99% of the time, the uterus and the egg come from the same person. Certainly, all three of them cannot come from the same person (at least with current technology), and I'm not sure it's biologically possible for the sperm and uterus to come from the same person. This kind of vagueness, while certainly inclusive of transgender people and intersex people, just leads to confusion. How is a child supposed to know whether or not they have a uterus? Uterus and ovaries are kind of a package deal, unless there are rare complications.
So the sperm and the egg have "stories" inside them. The illustrations imply that the stories are about the life that the parent has lived up until that point (showing a puppet show, and a film strip or series of photos of the mother, for example), which is absolutely inaccurate. And "when an egg and a sperm meet, they swirl together in a special kind of dance. As they dance they talk to each other. The egg tells the sperm all the stories it has to tell about the body it came from. And the sperm tells the egg all the stories it has to tell about the body it came from. When their dance is done they are not two things anymore. They danced around and shared so much that they became one brand new thing." Sort of a cute metaphor, but that's not how it works. They don't "tell each other" anything. They combine together on a cellular level, creating new chromosomes that give directions about how to build a new body. It's kind of pointless to talk about the "stories" or DNA, without explaining why they're important, and how they work together to make the new thing. How the DNA of the children relates to the DNA of the parent, and why children often look like their parents in certain ways.
Then it talks about the baby developing and getting bigger, and then how sometimes the baby is ready to come out on its own, or sometimes a doctor decides that it's time. Then, "Some babies are born by coming out through a part of the body that most people call the vagina." MOST people? I mean, yeah, slang terms exist, but if we're talking people who speak the English language, EVERYONE calls it that. It's like saying, "You see with an organ that most people call the eyes." Not. Accurate.
It mentions cesareans, which is good. It mentions that sometimes the birth hurts (an understatement, but accurate). But their lack of talking about adoption comes back to bite them here, when they're not vague enough. "Who was waiting for you to be born?" the book asks the reader. For adopted children, they might not know. That might be a painful question for them. I get that it's trying to tie the disjointed bits of the book to the child listener's life, but that's a hell of an assumption. "Who helped to bring together the sperm and the egg that made you? Who was happy that it was YOU who grew?" Maybe the mother wanted a girl instead of a boy. It happens.
It's just so bizarre, the things that the author decides to include and the things that they decide to leave out. It's not very useful if all it does is tackle the easy part. If I bought this book hoping that it would help me explain sex to my children, I would be sorely disappointed. Because it does not do that. It provides an extremely brief overview of the biological components of making babies, and that's it. I respect their attempt to be inclusive of all genders, but their execution leads to distortion and confusion of statistically relevant facts.
Message: Something something babies?
April 18, 2015
What Makes a Baby is an absolutely worthwhile book to add to your children’s literature library. As the book states on the front cover, What Makes a Baby really is “a book for every kind of FAMILY and every kind of KID.”
The wonderfully inclusive language works to pare the explanation down to the essentials of what all children really do have in common regarding their origins: the combination of an egg and a sperm, which then grows into a baby in a uterus. The book assumes no more about the reader’s story and, in fact, poses these questions to the readers themselves. This allows adult readers to guide the conversation to talk about an individual child’s origins, such as in-vitro fertilization, adoption, birth with a midwife, cesarean section, or any other part of the child’s story.
The book also contains a great mixture of scientific explanation and beautiful celebration of creating life. In a striking move, Silverberg explains genetic material as a collection of “stories about the body the [egg or sperm] comes from.” This allows for a much easier understanding of these scientific concepts and extends the possible readership to a much younger age.
While the book absolutely needs supplementing with information about the child’s origins and answers to the child’s questions, it provides a strong backbone for an important conversation. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to any parent or guardian looking for a way to have a conversation about reproduction that does not promote rigid understanding of gender, heteronormative definitions of relationships, or privileging of certain types of reproductive practices.
The wonderfully inclusive language works to pare the explanation down to the essentials of what all children really do have in common regarding their origins: the combination of an egg and a sperm, which then grows into a baby in a uterus. The book assumes no more about the reader’s story and, in fact, poses these questions to the readers themselves. This allows adult readers to guide the conversation to talk about an individual child’s origins, such as in-vitro fertilization, adoption, birth with a midwife, cesarean section, or any other part of the child’s story.
The book also contains a great mixture of scientific explanation and beautiful celebration of creating life. In a striking move, Silverberg explains genetic material as a collection of “stories about the body the [egg or sperm] comes from.” This allows for a much easier understanding of these scientific concepts and extends the possible readership to a much younger age.
While the book absolutely needs supplementing with information about the child’s origins and answers to the child’s questions, it provides a strong backbone for an important conversation. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to any parent or guardian looking for a way to have a conversation about reproduction that does not promote rigid understanding of gender, heteronormative definitions of relationships, or privileging of certain types of reproductive practices.
August 2, 2013
I appreciate what the author was attempting to do with this book, but I think it fell way flat. The illustrations are extremely disturbing and I, who HAVE EXPERIENCED CHILDBIRTH, was left utterly confused at the way conception and childbirth were described. If I, a grown up and a parent, was confused by this book, how are kids supposed to grasp these concepts?
March 17, 2018
Bless this gender neutral book. The sperm looks like Lemongrab tho. 9 MONTHS DUNGEON!
April 21, 2017
I'm a little conflicted on this one. I read it because I loved Silverberg's other kids' book, Sex is a Funny Word. I do love that this book completely avoided binaries, both in words and illustrations. The idea that "some people" have eggs and some have sperm might be confusing to a less open mind, but it's the truth. To say that only men have sperm and only women have eggs would be inaccurate, whether we're talking about sex or gender or both.
I didn't love the description of sperm and egg meeting - saying that they dance together and share their stories is a little too fanciful for me. It's a bit too close to babies-come-from-the-stork territory for comfort, in my opinion. The explanation of how exactly the egg and sperm come to meet was incredibly vague, so a lot of kids might be confused after reading it. But maybe that's the point: to get graphic about how procreative sex works would be dismissive of people who conceive in other ways. I guess the point here wasn't really to explain how sex works but to give parents and kids enough (mostly) factual information for now. It gives them a jumping-off point to start a bigger conversation when they're ready. And that is very cool.
I'm still not jazzed about the idea of the egg-sperm dance and story time, though. :-P
I didn't love the description of sperm and egg meeting - saying that they dance together and share their stories is a little too fanciful for me. It's a bit too close to babies-come-from-the-stork territory for comfort, in my opinion. The explanation of how exactly the egg and sperm come to meet was incredibly vague, so a lot of kids might be confused after reading it. But maybe that's the point: to get graphic about how procreative sex works would be dismissive of people who conceive in other ways. I guess the point here wasn't really to explain how sex works but to give parents and kids enough (mostly) factual information for now. It gives them a jumping-off point to start a bigger conversation when they're ready. And that is very cool.
I'm still not jazzed about the idea of the egg-sperm dance and story time, though. :-P
September 24, 2013
The strength of this book was that it made the topic into a narrative and gave it that kind of logic. So the book does something unique beyond the information you could just get from wikipedia, and justifiex its own birth as a paper, hard-cover, four-color book. Fiona Smyth's color scheme and some of the patterns and juxtapositions are downright psychedelic, and there was a lot done in the illustration to avoid any sense of realistic portrayals--it is not a biology book, it is a book about -talking to young people- about making babies.
For a 'fact book' this story leaves more questions than it gives answers--in fact it is so indirect that a couple of times it made me think, "maybe it doesn't work the way I thought it does." This indirectness might be a plus if a reader has adults to talk to about the things that are left out (and wants to talk to adults about sex). But if this is supposed to be a more or less benign way to get the straight information on what makes a baby, the approach is way too oblique.
Ultimately, the subtitle is what subverts the experience for this book. Silverberg tries so hard to be politically neutral, it's hard to tell who he's trying to avoid offending. On the one hand he keeps everything so gender neutral, you are left to wonder whether some women have sperm and some men have eggs (bad science). Is he trying to keep things neutral for the LGBT family? Or is he trying to keep things neutral for the anti-sex-ed Christian crowd--a book about sex ed that really doesn't tell how reproduction works? Maybe both. I'm just not sure inference is the key comprehension strategy we want to rely on with this topic.
For a 'fact book' this story leaves more questions than it gives answers--in fact it is so indirect that a couple of times it made me think, "maybe it doesn't work the way I thought it does." This indirectness might be a plus if a reader has adults to talk to about the things that are left out (and wants to talk to adults about sex). But if this is supposed to be a more or less benign way to get the straight information on what makes a baby, the approach is way too oblique.
Ultimately, the subtitle is what subverts the experience for this book. Silverberg tries so hard to be politically neutral, it's hard to tell who he's trying to avoid offending. On the one hand he keeps everything so gender neutral, you are left to wonder whether some women have sperm and some men have eggs (bad science). Is he trying to keep things neutral for the LGBT family? Or is he trying to keep things neutral for the anti-sex-ed Christian crowd--a book about sex ed that really doesn't tell how reproduction works? Maybe both. I'm just not sure inference is the key comprehension strategy we want to rely on with this topic.
February 6, 2021
I enjoyed the psychedelic illustrations. What I did not care for was the strange mix of biological terms and vagueness I assume is motivated by popular political correctness. Terms like sperm, vagina, and uterus are used but who has these body parts is glossed over. "Not all bodies have eggs in them. Some do, and some do not." Gee, that really clears things up...
Many of the descriptions made me wonder if the author even understands reproduction, they certainly don't explain DNA in a helpful clear manner.
Many of the descriptions made me wonder if the author even understands reproduction, they certainly don't explain DNA in a helpful clear manner.
March 2, 2015
Absolutely horrible. I have no idea how this is a good way to start teaching children about reproduction. It's completely unrealistic and there are enough issues surrounding this topic already. I thought "How Babies Are Made" was bad and that was the book my mother gave to me!
September 4, 2013
wow, this book rules. it's about the most basic way babies come into the world, and it's inclusive of basically every kind of family and conception story.
September 5, 2013
This is a beautifully designed, illustrated and written book. I'm thrilled that it exists! Families and children need What Makes a Baby. It's direct, quirky and lively approach to how babies are really made--the full diversity of this reality--is refreshing.
December 6, 2017
Really strange and overly vague/PC. Not a fan of the sperm and egg dancing with each other to merge their stories - lost opportunity to offer a child-friendly overview of genetics.
June 12, 2014
What a great idea! This book is designed for any child who is interested in learning about how babies are made. It's not overly graphic--it has a little bit of artsy interpretation--but it's done in a way that encourages the parents to discuss things further with the child. This is also appropriate for lots of different families and isn't completely het. There are LGBT families shown and the book emphasizes that a baby is made through having a sperm, an egg, and a place for the baby to grow. The bodies don't fall under gender stereotyped colors or shapes--there's a focus on how gender and biology are not the same thing--and no where does the book do any kind of shaming. I love it!
Ultimately, I learned about this book at my library because a parent complained. Parents, keep in mind that by having your child read this book you will have to answer questions and participate in active parenting. The kids are curious to know all about it; it's the parents who seem to have more of a problem with the content.
Ultimately, I learned about this book at my library because a parent complained. Parents, keep in mind that by having your child read this book you will have to answer questions and participate in active parenting. The kids are curious to know all about it; it's the parents who seem to have more of a problem with the content.
February 6, 2021
My 6-year-old asked THE QUESTION out of the blue while on our way to the library. I greatly appreciate our children's library staff for helping us find this on the shelves.
It is specific without being graphic and very accessible to young readers. It provides open-ended questions in the text to encourage dialogue as a family.
It is specific without being graphic and very accessible to young readers. It provides open-ended questions in the text to encourage dialogue as a family.
February 3, 2016
This book is a great introduction to reproduction for young kids. I read it with my 4 year old to help him understand where he came from. It's both factual and simple to understand without giving too much information. I highly recommend it!
May 26, 2021
I read this because I absolutely adored Sex is a Funny Word. But I was a bit disappointed by this. It wasn’t as informative as I expected and still suffers from the age-old problem of using silly metaphors to explain procreation. It was targeted at a much younger audience than Sex is a Funny Word, and I have already told my 5yo most of what’s in this book.
I suppose this book could be good for parents who are too uncomfortable to answer their kids questions when they ask where babies come from. And like in Sex is a Funny Word, this book is wonderfully inclusive and gender neutral. I will be reading this book to my daughter now that I have previewed it.
I suppose this book could be good for parents who are too uncomfortable to answer their kids questions when they ask where babies come from. And like in Sex is a Funny Word, this book is wonderfully inclusive and gender neutral. I will be reading this book to my daughter now that I have previewed it.
November 27, 2018
A fantastic book for introducing the concepts behind how babies are made. It's delightful because it leaves space for all kinds of families to discuss their experiences with their child. Eggs and sperm are described, but there's no "daddy's sperm and mommy's egg," leaving things open for families where there are two moms, or two dads, or where IVF, donors, or surrogacy were involved. My three-year-old loved it and made me read it to her twice in a row.
August 3, 2017
What a great book! My husband and I have started the adoption journey for the second time and this prompted our three-year-old son to start asking questions about where babies come from. I purchased What Makes A Baby after a friend recommended it, and the book was exactly what I was looking for! It covers reproduction in a very "matter of fact" way while still managing to be age appropriate for younger children. It's also inclusive of families that have children via adoption, surrogacy, co-parenting, and any other means. And the best part is that it introduces scenarios that are left open for parents to fill in the blanks with information relevant to their own specific family journey. I can't recommend this book enough.
children-chapter-books-to-read
January 12, 2018I only paged through this book, but I'm so glad that I did before I started reading it to my 6 and 3 year olds! It looks like it will be a great reference for when they finally start asking questions like this.
June 8, 2020
The first sex-ed book I had the pleasure of reading to my son! This is a great "starter" book for the topic, as it is VERY inclusive (doesn't assume all parents are MF pairings or that all babies are conceived via sex). Instead, it breaks down the component parts needed to make a baby (egg, sperm, uterus) without tying those parts to specific relationships. And it doesn't articulate how those elements get together, either, allowing each family to tell its own stories or elaborate as much as they feel comfortable. My son learned that Daddy has sperm and Mommy has eggs/a uterus, but he didn't ask how those parts all got together. I would have told him, but this seems a topic where it's worth following his lead in terms of what he needs to know.
Overall, an excellent introduction for even the youngest "readers," and one that should be comfortable for even fairly squeamish parents to use. Cute, colorful illustrations, too! (The day after I read it to him, my son rushed up my my husband, showed him a picture of the sperm, and announced, "Daddy, I have something to show you! This is a sperm! You have these in your tummy?" Yes, Dad did provide clarification on that last point. ;)).
Overall, an excellent introduction for even the youngest "readers," and one that should be comfortable for even fairly squeamish parents to use. Cute, colorful illustrations, too! (The day after I read it to him, my son rushed up my my husband, showed him a picture of the sperm, and announced, "Daddy, I have something to show you! This is a sperm! You have these in your tummy?" Yes, Dad did provide clarification on that last point. ;)).
October 19, 2022
An inclusive, age appropriate children’s book explaining the steps of conception and child birth.
I truly appreciate that gender specific terms are not used and the illustrations show non-gender specific people, making it truly inclusive of all types of families and people who have children.
I truly appreciate that gender specific terms are not used and the illustrations show non-gender specific people, making it truly inclusive of all types of families and people who have children.
December 12, 2022
Every kid needs this book. It’s teaches how babies are made in completely genderless and unsexualized terms. It is beautiful and inclusive and factually sound. 10/10
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August 1, 2022Such a great modern take on what a kid needs to know about how babies are made. Bottom line: a sperm, an egg, and people waiting for them.
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December 2, 2023I read this while standing in a bookstore
March 19, 2023
I really liked the theme and the illustrations worked so well with this story, very good to explain to children what makes a baby.
December 18, 2014
There are a myriad of books on the subject of reproduction for children, all of which follow the typical "when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much..." narrative. I can remember reading some of them when I asked my mom where babies came from. Her response was, "Let's go to the library." It would have been delightful to be introduced to the concepts of baby making with a book as considerate as What Makes a Baby.
This book's strength lies in its gender neutral and scientifically accurate language. It describes that the ingredients for new life are an egg, sperm, and a uterus, but it does not gender the bodies that those elements come from, allowing the book to describe the process of reproduction in every family, regardless of how well that family fits into the typical heteronormative idea of the nuclear family.
The vibrant colors are lovely, but it would have been nice to see a more realistic representations of human diversity rather than the fantastical psychedelic skin tones each person has here.
This book's strength lies in its gender neutral and scientifically accurate language. It describes that the ingredients for new life are an egg, sperm, and a uterus, but it does not gender the bodies that those elements come from, allowing the book to describe the process of reproduction in every family, regardless of how well that family fits into the typical heteronormative idea of the nuclear family.
The vibrant colors are lovely, but it would have been nice to see a more realistic representations of human diversity rather than the fantastical psychedelic skin tones each person has here.
February 19, 2016
If you are looking for a book about where babies come from for young kids, this is a fantastic choice. It truly is a book for all kinds of families and all kinds of kids. The people in the book are not specifically male or female. They are also a wide variety of colors, such as blue, green, pink, etc. Accurate terms such as egg, sperm, and uterus are used, but this is not a technical book. The text is lovely and answers the basics without being more detailed that most kids need.
My kids loved the book. After reading through it with them, they have since read it several times on their own in the last two days.
My kids loved the book. After reading through it with them, they have since read it several times on their own in the last two days.
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