Book Review
An overview of the book
The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made by Fiona Katauskas, is the book that replaces the book that many of us grew up with as kids – Where did I come from?
Do you remember that book from your own childhood? Or the video? (If you want a good chuckle, go and watch it now!)
The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made is the modern-day guide to the facts of life. It is factually correct, a contains nearly everything that a child needs to know about baby-making. It is ideal for children aged between 7 and 11 years of age.
This book DOES talk about sexual intercourse.​
The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made talks about:
- the fact that babies are made by us all – animals too
- the silly stories that kids may hear about how babies are made
- the differences between boys and girls ie boys have a penis and girls have a vulva (it doesn’t talk about intersex and where a baby is born and the genitals don’t tell you if they are a boy or a girl)
- drawings of penises and vulvas (+ inside them ie the reproductive organs)
- how we become an adult
- what happens during puberty
- how boys become fertile – sperm
- the menstrual cycle or ovulation ie what happens each month that makes a woman fertile
- sexual intercourse ie traditional penis in vagina (man on top) baby-making
- fertilisation – it talks about the in and out motion of penetration building up to orgasm (I don’t know of any other book that does this, other than Where did I come from?.
- fertilisation ie sperm into the egg
- different types of egg joining – twins, triplets,
- IVF, egg and sperm donation
- how the baby grows – what the baby does whilst it is growing, how big it is as it develops
- cutting the cord and our belly button
- premature babies
- baby feeding – breast and bottle
- summarises up with how amazing our bodies really are
Reading tips
Make sure you have a look inside the book, The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made first before you read it to your child! That way you will know what to expect, as there is a detailed description of what sexual intercourse is (well the ‘man + woman = baby’ or ‘penis in vagina’ type of sex). You can find some tips on how to read ‘sex ed’ books here.
The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made does give a rather detailed description of sex. It won’t harm young children to know this stuff, but it is probably a lot more detailed than what most parents are comfortable explaining (so do make sure that you are comfortable talking about this before you actually read this book with your kids). Most books just say that the man puts his penis inside the woman’s vagina. This book takes it to the next step, by talking about the rhythmical movement of sex and the build-up towards orgasm – just like in the book, Where did I come from?.
​This book covers a lot of sex education topics but it isn’t too wordy, so you could quite easily read it in the one sitting or break it up into smaller parts. You could also just give it to an older child to read by themselves – just make sure that you have a chat with them about the book, later on. And let them know that they can come and ask you any questions.
The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made by Fiona Katauskas is a great book and really is the modern-day replacement to “Where Did I Come From?’.
Ideal Age
Ideal for children aged 7 to 10 years.
Buy this book
✅ Buy a copy of The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made from Amazon.
Video Transcription
A transcription in case you are more of a reader than a listener
Hey there! So, I came across this really cool book called The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made by Fiona Katauskas. It’s an Australian book that came out about 18 months ago. Fiona, who is a journalist, wrote it because she felt that the existing books about the birds and the bees were a bit outdated.
Now, let me give you a quick rundown of what this book covers. It’s super comprehensive! First off, it normalizes the idea that babies are everywhere. I mean, birds, animals, giraffes, and of course, people make babies too. It’s really great to see that the book includes a diverse range of cultures and religions, representing different types of families.
Then it goes into some of the silly stories people make up about where babies come from. It also talks about gender, explaining that girls have a vulva and boys have a penis. It covers the different sizes and shapes we all come in. And guess what? It even talks about puberty and becoming an adult!
This book is like an all-in-one textbook, seriously. It covers everything from the inside of the penis to the girl parts, and even talks about how babies are made. Now, I read this to my six-year-old last night, and he didn’t have any questions about it. But who knows, maybe if we read it again, he might have a question or two. We just read it together, looked at the pages, and flipped through.
I have to admit, some of the drawings might be a bit complex for young kids to understand. Even some adults struggle with anatomical maps, right? But hey, it’s great that the book also talks about things like fertilization, twins, and even IVF and egg/sperm donation. It’s really up-to-date with what’s happening nowadays.
The book also dives into how the baby grows inside the womb, using fruit sizes as a reference. It’s a fun way to understand the progression. And of course, it covers birth, both vaginal and Caesarean, and talks about cutting the cord. It’s really informative and reassuring.
Now, there are a few things the book doesn’t cover, like premature birth or infant loss, but those topics are less common and might require a different book if you need to address them. However, it does talk about how babies are fed and emphasizes how amazing our bodies are.
All in all, it’s a pretty good book. I’d say it’s best suited for kids around six to eight years old, although my ten-year-old found it a bit too babyish. But hey, we still got some useful information out of it. It’s definitely a book you should have, but make sure you’re comfortable talking about sex because it does go into more detail than other books I’ve seen.
By the way, there’s another book called Where Do I Come From? that I don’t really recommend. It’s outdated and hasn’t been updated in a long time. So, stick with The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made instead.
I hope this review helps you out. It’s an awesome Australian book, and I’m all for supporting our local authors. Cheers!
