{"id":5056,"date":"2020-03-08T00:01:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T06:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5056"},"modified":"2020-03-07T13:22:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T19:22:28","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-681-featuring-anke-kuhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5056","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #681: Featuring Anke Kuhl"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nI read just this morning<\/a><\/strong> about a well-reviewed book about sex, aimed at children and written by a sex educator, causing all kinds of controversy at a Massachusetts school. To be clear, I haven’t read that particular book, but generally speaking these kinds of stories bum me out. Children deserve, for many reasons, straight-up talk about their changing bodies, sex, and gender identity, and at least here in the South, I find that many adults would just like to pretend students don’t have curiosity about these things all. (What passes for sex education here is pretty dismal.)<\/p>\n

That’s one reason I was happy to read Tell Me: What Children Really Want to Know about Bodies, Sex and Emotions<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Gecko), a German import (originally published in 2014 and translated by Shelley Tanaka) now on shelves here in the U.S. It is written by Katharina von der Gathen and illustrated by Anke Kuhl. And it is a breath of fresh air. <\/p>\n

The author is a sex educator, and this book is the result of a project she did with students around nine and ten years of age. She asked them to write down their questions about “their bodies, puberty, love and sexuality and anonymously put them into a box with the promise that I would answer every question.” There are 99 of them in this book \u2014 with illustrations that are funny and tender all at once \u2014 and always anatomically correct, of course. (Kuhl makes it clear at the book’s very opening that she will not shy away from anatomical correctness; the second question \u2014 “Are there different penises?” \u2014 includes a drawing of exactly ten different penises.) <\/p>\n

Vertically oriented, the book features (as you can see in some of the illustrations here today), on the recto, a drawing with the child’s question beneath it. At the page turn, you can read the author’s answer on the verso (with the question re-typed, given that some of the originals have spelling errors). The questions cover a lot of ground from more general questions \u2014 “What’s so important about bodies anyway?” and “What makes sex fun?” and “Is it embarrassing to have sex?” \u2014 to specific ones about anatomy, sexuality, gender identity, reproduction, and much more. Von der Gathen takes their answers very seriously, never engaging in a patronizing tone. She is refreshingly honest. Unflinching even, with an economy of information; she answers many of these questions in two to three paragraphs. Woven throughout is a respect for the LGBTQ+ spectrum (mentions of asexuality, what it means to be transgender, bisexuality, etc.): “People are different,” she writes, “and people love differently. LGBT and variations like LGBTQ+ are abbreviations for people who live and love differently from the male-female combination (heterosexual).” Sexual consent comes up more than once (including one child’s question about what rape is), the author repeatedly weaving in the vital notion of consent when it comes to intimacy and sex. There are also questions about masturbation; conception and pregnancy; pornography; adults’ unwillingness to openly discuss sex; awkwardness over changing bodies; prostitution; multiple questions about the act of sex (“How do you have sex if the penis is too big and the vagina too small?”) and even questions about when to have sex (“Do you have sex before or after you [sic] wedding?” one child asks, which the author handles beautifully). As the Kirkus<\/em> review<\/strong><\/strong><\/a> notes, all the author’s responses “employ appropriate vocabulary that\u2019s respectful of the capabilities of their audience and are calmly inclusive of variations in human and cultural experience.”<\/p>\n

Wisely, the authors notes in an introduction that “some of these questions could have many different answers,” adding that if any readers feel concerned about anything related to their body or feelings, “it’s important to get help ….” Each question (though not pictured here) has a number assigned to it, and the book closes with a list of the questions included \u2014 all this for anyone who would prefer browsing, instead of reading it cover to cover. <\/p>\n

Here are some illustrations. They are pictured without the author’s responses, but if you’re curious, well … I encourage you to find a copy of this one-of-a-kind book. (Also, here’s<\/a><\/strong> a Q&A with the author, where she says: “Sexuality is everywhere in our society: advertising at the bus stop, gay parents in a TV series, a sexist insult in the schoolyard, or when an older sister is making out with a boyfriend. These different situations naturally generate a plethora of questions in children that they then carry around with them. But the message they get everywhere is: ‘This is not for you!'” What she said. We need more books like hers.)
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* * * * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n

TELL ME: WHAT CHILDREN REALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT BODIES, SEX AND EMOTIONS. Originally published as <\/em>Kl\u0101r Mich Auf \u00a9 2014 Klett Kinderbuch GmbH, Leipzig, Germany. English-language edition \u00a9 Gecko Press Ltd 2019. Translation \u00a9 Shelley Tanaka 2019. Illustrations reproduced by permission of Gecko Press.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
<\/center><\/p>\n

I’m going to forgo seven separate kicks and just say that I’m grateful (in a million-kicks kind of way) that my friends and family here in middle Tennessee are all okay after the big o’ tornadoes that ripped through here this past week, though my heart aches for those who lost loved ones and homes and businesses. <\/p>\n

Also, my oldest will turn 16 this week. SIXTEEN. And she is one of my life’s greatest gifts. <\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I read just this morning about a well-reviewed book about sex, aimed at children and written by a sex educator, causing all kinds of controversy at a Massachusetts school. To be clear, I haven’t read that particular book, but generally speaking these kinds of stories bum me out. Children deserve, for many reasons, straight-up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,3,26,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-intermediate","category-nonfiction","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}