Good info good pictures to back everything up and I even got this book right after "the sex talks" came. I came use and me and my friends laughed at the illistrations in 4th grade=]

I bought this book for my 9 year old daughter after we had "The Talk". She reads it every night and loves it. We sometimes read it together, but if not, I always ask her if she has questions. It is perfect for her age. I'm really glad I bought this book for her. It's just one more way we share time on such very important subjects. She thanked me today for helping her to become a lady. I felt so proud.

I bought this book for my 10 year daughter and she refers to it often. It goes in to detail of importance of keeping your body clean and talks about all the changes your body goes through in easy to understand and not scary text. alot of my friends bought this for their girls too!

I reviewed this book quickly then gave it to my 9 year old daughter. She had it read within an hour. We sat and discussed it and it seemed to answer all of her questions. It made her feel more comfortable about the changes that her body would be going through. Sometimes your kids have questions and you arent quite sure how to answer them, this book definitely steers you in the right direction. I would recommend it to any little girl around 8-9-10. They can read it in private then discuss when they feel comfortable. Great book!!

This is a great book! It touches on important subjects in a gentle yet informative manner. My daughter is soon to be 10 and we are reading it together. I wish I had this book when I was growing up!!

I got this book along with the two feelings book from American Girl for my 12 years old step daughter and she loved it...Her mom really hasn't sat down with her to discuss her body changes and the importance of how things will not happen over night...we found it helpful to let her read it first and then come to us with any questions...she found the book especially helpful for her upcoming braces and how to care for them, she takes it every where with her...THANKS AMERICAN GIRL this book is great!!!

The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls (American Girl Library)
The best guide I have ever seen in helping explain the facts of life! Made having "the talk" much easier. Excellent examples of problems girls face. Does not just explain the changes in the body, but changes in perception, peer pressure, even what size of pads to buy. Covers all the changes they go through, hair, shaving, diet, self perception, and sleep. My daughter has read it actively for the last three nights, which has opened the door to a great conversation on all the ways her body and life will change with puberty. I wish my mom had it!

THIS BOOK IS TRULY A PARENT'S LITTLE HELPER! I GAVE IT TO MY 10 YEAR OLD TO HELP EXPLAIN HER PERIOD.(YES, SHES ONLY 10. AND YES SHE JUST GOT HER PERIOD!)
THAT BOOK HAD AN ANSWER FOR EVERY QUESTION MY CHILD ASKED.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, "AMERICAN GIRL!" YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER!!

Initially picked this up at the library to introduce my 8 1/2 year old daughter to the subject of her developing body. She read it cover to cover several times and we needed to buy it because she wanted to be able to use it as a reference book! This was the easiest way to introduce the subject and initiated hours of conversation between us. Highly recommended!

I bought this for my 9yo daughter and she loved it. She read the whole book and is now more self reliant about caring for herself.

What prompted me to look for "a book" was when I found out two of my daughter's friends had their periods at age 8. I didn't exactly want a "period" book, or a "birds and the bees" book... not just yet. I wanted an appetizer of sorts before she read (or heard about) topics for older girls. This book is perfect. Though there is a "period" section (a few pages- not enough for a period book in my opinion), I read this book with my daughter on all the other wondeful topics it covers: personal hygiene, your feelings, bed-wetting, etc.. It's a perfect way to begin to bond with your daughter before she learns everything from her friends. The best part about this book is that IT CELEBRATES GIRLHOOD- NOT WOMANHOOD!! Finally!! Encourages girls to love their bodies IN THE NOW, instead of making puberty this HUGE transition- it normalizes. This is very important psychologically.

The Truth: I'm a Girl, I'm Smart and I Know Everything Talk about a perfect book for a perfect topic-this is it! As a positive psyhchologist I give this book five stars plus. It opens the door to growing up for a girl in an incredibly positive, friendly, safe light. It makes the toughest topics easy to understand and handle. I wish I had had a book like this to read when I was growing and changing! And I do think this book is the perfect companion book to my book,The Truth: I'm a Gril, I'm Smart and I Know Everything. The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls deals with a changing body, While The Truth deals with the emotions, feelings and thoughts that go with a girl growing up. Both together: dynamite!

This is a great book to help your daughter through puberty. The best way to use it is as a tool to help you talk with her about these things. What I love about this book is that it covers everything a girl could worry or wonder about within reason, without going into "how babies are made". It's more of a GIRLS HANDBOOK about HER BODY! It deals with body odor, greasy hair, acne, eating habits, the stages of breast development, how to pick out an appropriate bra, getting your period... It's a SENSIBLE book, and advises the reader that the best person to discuss these things with is a PARENT! Bravo! It is also wonderful in that it encourages girls to accept themselves as unique individuals and try not to compare themselves to others, we are all on a different growth path - some girls will develop sooner, some are late bloomers. The only warning I have is that it does discuss tampons and even has little drawings of how to use them - this could be a bit shocking to some girls, but it's the best description and least offensive pictorial I could imagine for this topic! The drawings and language are cute, fun and age-appropriate!! A very positive book for girls, encouraging them to stay healthy and talk to their parents!

This is a very easy to understand book for your pre-teen girl.
My daughter started asking questions recently regarding periods, body hair, and bras. This book explains it all and lets her read at her own pace.
We can read it together and discuss anything she wants without feeling uncomfortable.
I highly recommend this book,it is very helpful.

My 10 year old daughter read this book the first day she got it. She, then, wanted to share it with other girls her age. (My daughter says she gives this book a 5-star rating.) It covers a range of topics - some I would never even think to talk about - that girls either encounter, think about, or hear about. It was definitely a good purchase. We will pass it down to my younger daughter when she is older.

As a mom and an RN, this book is very good. I gave this book to my daughter when she was 9, now she is 12. She still consults it as a 12 year old. I read it first (always good with this type of book!) and then sat down and leafed through it with my daughter. Some of the content she wasn't interested in looking through initially. I understood that to mean she wasn't ready for it so we skipped over it. Now that she is 12, she's gone through it all (she is starting some development now). She has an 8 year old brother so we have talked about not letting him have access to the book. She has a special spot for it and he is oblivious to the book and its contents. We also talked about the importance of letting other moms talk to their girls rather than my daughter take it upon herself to educate her friends (no phone calls yet!). I like the very matter-of-fact approach of this book. There should be no shame in any of this. It is so cool God made our bodies this way! I also want my kids to hear about all this from me first, rather than peers. It must be an ongoing dialogue. As my daughter has more questions, she comes to me and we talk. There should not be one talk and you're done. Not in this world and culture!!

I have twin 8yr old girls. Knowing puberty is on its way is important subject to be educated on. My girls like the book because it's an easy read and the book is pretty. Great product.

For good book for daughters. It explains things that they will be going thru.

This book hit the heart of the envelope for our 9-year old daughter. It has helped her understand some of the changes going on in her life and made our job of talking about it easier. It may be a bit graphic in parts for some parents, e.g., the parts about pubic hair or how to insert a tampon, but is OK for us.

This is a great book to share with my daughter. It's light, colorful and easy words for a preteen. It was recommeded from friends and after checking it out at the library, I bought it so I can share certain chapters at the appropriate times.

"Thank you mom; I feel better now." This is what my daughter said after reading the book. She was not pleased when she saw it was published by American Girl because she is a tomboy; but, she sat down and read it cover to cover. She had a few questions and comments along the way. It was a perfect way to establish a dialogue about body topics that we can now build on.

Very good information for talking with your daughter. This opens the door to subjects you may not be comfortable bringing up or are unsure of just how much your daughter is ready to talk about.

In simple terms, with great illustrations, this book provides girls just what they need at just the right time.

Ladies, you won't find anything much better than this. And -- I wish I had it, myself, back then.

Buy it before it becomes an immediate need!

After reading the reviews I decided to purchase this book for my 8 yr old daughter. The main reason I even looked at this book was because my daughter doesn't like reading all that much but is required to read a good amount non-fiction books and write a short report about them. Besides bugs, Presidents, sharks, dinosaurs, etc there aren't many captivating subjects for young girls. After receiving the book I was sorry I bought it. I thought it was going to be too much reading for her and I became a little nervous about her reading some of the subject matter. To me she wasn't old enough and I didn't want her to be dealing with this young lady stuff just yet. I didn't offer her the book but left it on the side of the couch with some other books. After a couple of days she found it (okay, so my house is a little messy) and voluntarily began to read it! She was so curious about every topic and, as some other mom's have expressed, would sit with me so that I could help her with words and share it with her. This is the first time she ever showed an interest in reading. She would set aside time each night to do her required reading (and then some) from the book. And I'm so relieved because it hasn't been an uncomfortable experience as I imagined it would be because she is still so innocent. It just "is what it is". So we got our non-fiction reading and our facts of life all in one package. And she seems to now like what reading can do for her. I'm quite pleased!

Okay there's some stuff in here worth reading but when you get to the picture of how to insert tampons I decided that it's not a book for my daughter at this age.

Before handing this book over to your kid be certain that it's information that you want her to have.

There's a lot of value in these discussions but at 9 my daughter is too young for some of what's in here.

It is also a book that will assist you in your parenting. It should not be mistaken for a book you toss at your kid in lieu of a discussion.

Okay there's some stuff in here worth reading but when you get to the picture of how to insert tampons I decided that it's not a book for my daughter.

Before handing this book over to your kid be certain that it's information that you want her to have.

There are other ways to discuss puberty.

I am a Christian and somewhat conservative when it comes to what I want my kids to know and when. I was really shocked at some of the info in some other "coming of age" books. This book tells them what they need to know- not all the gory adult details.

i bought this for my 11 year old and she liked it a lot it gave her tips how to keep her self clean and how when she gets older what shes going to go through. i wouldn't recommend it for younger kids because of some of the images. but overall great book!

This book arrived in a perfect time for my "tween". I highly recommend it for anyone with a young lady in the house that is beginning to move into the next stage of development. Even if you think you have "open communication" this book is a great tool!!! I'm sharing it with other parents I know.

This book is perfect for a mother to read with her daughter. Topics are covered in a very appropriate way. Makes talking about sensative issues very comfortable. I wish someone would make one like this but for boys issues!

This book is wonderful. It makes explaining changes simple. It is so easy to follow. My girls love it. It even explains things like how to brush your teeth, take care of your hair, how to choose a bra, it addresses eating disorders, and much more without getting into a sexual aspect, which a lot of books do. I highly recommend this book.

I used this book to help me along with my "talk" I had with my daughter. It was perfect with pictures and exact wording to help a 10 y/o starting puberty understand. She still reads over the book occasionally.

This book is SO terrific. My daughter, age 9, can't not put her copy down. We read it together and it really helped to guide the discussion about her developing body. By putting puberty in the context of the whole body, not just periods and breasts, it gives a balanced and less overwhelming view of what she can anticipate. I loved how it focussed on the fact that all girls will undergo these changes, but not at the same rate or age. There is no "normal". Highly recommended.

i initially bought this book for help in teaching my daughter about beginning puberty and all the changes that would occur with her body. this book teaches so much more! from self esteem, to caring about taking care of your fingernails, teeth, hairbrushes, etc., about changing emotions. every weekend we read 5 pages together (her choice of topics) and go over the information together. the information and pictures together make it easier for her to understand, and for me to teach.

I love this book!! It has good imformation about
growing up and taking care of your body.
I think the age 8 is a little too young for some parts
of this book. I recommend it to ages 9-13.
Do your daughter a favor and buy this book for her!!

I bought this for my ten year old daughter on a whim. We have an open relationship and I thought we had covered everything she would want or need to know. What I hadn't realized is that she may want to reaccess this information over and over at her own pace.

This book is well written with information on basic hygiene intermixed with more "delicate" topical information. A definite must have in the libarary of any preteen girl!

I bought this book for my daughter on the recommendation of several friends. She is 8, but some of her slightly older friends and cousins are starting to go through physical changes, so I figured that there would be a lot of questions coming. The first 1/2 or so of this book explains how to take care of your body - keeping your body clean from head to toe, eating right, and staying away from those things that are harmful (smoking, drugs, drinking). Later in the book, there is a small portion on body image and bulemia/anorexia. It then delves into the world of the hormone changes that accompany puberty. There is an instruction guide of how to measure for a bra, how to select a bra, and how to use pads and tampons. There is also a lot of 'what if' questions and answers that deal with situations that a girl new to periods might experience. I have just started on this book with my daughter and am explaining things slowly since she has not undergone any of these changes yet herself. Each section has its own header, so if there is a topic that you are not comfortable with yet, you can mark it or skip it until a later time. I sure wish that I had had this book when I was starting to develop and starting my period. It sure explains more than the talk I received and the film we didn't watch until 5th grade!

Love this book. Just the facts, with a couple great tips as well. Goes over all personal hygeine....some things you may just take for granted that they know. My daughter really likes book.

I also bought the "feelings book"...we all know about girls mood swings, and that she said is her favorite since she gets to answer questions. She has also pointed out several "moods" that she has had with me and thought it was nice that it was normal.

I purchased 3 books for my daughter because she is developing and growing up so quickly (and she loves to read), I thought I should find some books we could read and review together and I could answer questions for her. She has not put this book down and has read it 2 times already. This book was very appropriately written with a young girl in mind (my daughter is almost 10). The other two books were far more detailed regarding sexuality and reproduction. I'll probablly save those for later.

Ordered for 11 yr old granddaughter.....absolutely marvelous...well illustrated and answers questions girls "worry" about....very,very informative and also makes girls "think"!

I got the book AmericanGirl:The Care & Keeping of You for my 9 year old daughter, Jordan, and I couldn't have been happier. It covers the basics but does not get into details that are inappropriate for her age. It answered a lot of questions for her about what to expect as she gets older, and started a lot of conversations she might have been to embarassed to ask before.

I bought this book for my 8-year old daughter. She had noticed "development" in her classmates (most are 9 or 10 years old) and gymnastics teammates (up to 12 years old) and had so many questions. We have a very open and frank relationship, and it was great to have this book as a resource. She is an excellent reader and likes to learn on her own, then check back with me about questions raised in her books. I read the book first and found it sensitively written, with a good range of topics. At first I thought she wouldn't be interested in the health and skin care sections, but those were what she read first. The book doesn't address "where babies come from" but I think that is okay because my daughter is just concerned with getting to Teen before worrying about getting to Woman. She read the book in two days and she was able to pinpoint things that were worrying her using the clear language from the book so that we could talk through them. She tells me that she feels more confident when discussion among her classmates turns to "growing up" topics. I will definitely be buying more books in the American Girl series.

My daughter is 7 and has been asking a lot of questions about her body. Though I think I've done a pretty good job of explaining things as best I can, this book was a great help. There are drawn and colored illustrations that you would expect from a children's book along with explanations and tips to follow. It was even helpful for adults as well. There is a section on healthy eating, bathing, puberty, menstration, etc. This book did a really good job of explaining the changes of a girls body leading up to puberty and adult hood without going into sexuality. I really liked being able to talk with my daughter about her body without having to get into the details of sex. I hope they have a book like this for when those questions start in.

A very happy mom and daughter.

My 9 yr old daughter got this from her Grandma for Christmas. She sat and read it all morning during all the present-opening! She has read it numerous times since, has asked me something while flipping to that particular page she's talking about, and has really made what it teaches her a part of her by quoting parts of it to me when I talk about body care. I had heard from everyone who had this book that it's a must-buy book for young girls-it's true! It allowed her to feel like she had some control about how much she wanted to learn. She now has something to talk to me about rather than just listening to what I have to say about growing up.

This book really helped me sit down with my daughter to discuss everything from when she might start her period to the importance of washing her face and eating right. She has read every page of this book and refers to it quite often. I think it was a great purchase.

So far my 10 yr old has enjoyed all books in the American Girl series. This is very well done. Things are discussed in such a good and honest way. She enjoys reading it and it has been very positive. This is such a time of change for a Pre-Teen and what better time to get her thinking about change as a positive thing! The way the book is written has made her comfortable approaching me with new questions. Yea!

Love this book! It gradaually moves along from the easy stuff to the uncomfortable stuff. It reads easily and is great to answer most of the FAQ's. The pictures are drawn so its not to dramatizing for the sensitive. My daughter was afraid to shave and had many questions that she didn't know how to ask. The assitance of this book was able to help her put those questions into words. Highly recommend it for the pre-tween years. I started at 9 years old with this book, but I probably could have started 6 months earlier. This book provided me and my daughter with some great one on one time as well. I read it while she listened and looked, which is something we don't do often since she can read on her own now. Its been a nice addition to our family and I will use it with the other 3 daughters I have.

I'm a single Dad with 3 kids, the youngest being my only girl. She's 9 now and a friend at work recommended this book and it was perfect. I gave it to her and we talked a little about it and then she couldn't wait to dive right in. She read it cover to cover and has continued to refer back to it. It's become a very special "girl thing" for her that has really helped her appreciate her differences from her brothers in this otherwise all-male environment.



She's brought up things she's read with an open-ness that I wanted for us but didn't know how to generate. She's talked to me about hygiene - from dental to personal, about the changes she's feeling already in her body and about when she might want to start looking at training bras, etc. As her only parent but also as a guy, I felt really inadaquete about when and how to address this stuff. This book has helped us on our way.



I must add that my daughter is aso carrying herself with a greater sense of awareness of, and appreciation for, her "female-ness" that I frankly wouldn't have thought was possible for someone her age and certainly wouldn't have known how to engender.

This is an excellent book to prepare a girl approaching puberty once she asks the question, "What is a period?". It prepares the girl but it also prepares the mother, and talking about this openly is healthy and I think it removes mystery surrounding all the changes that are going to occur.

I'm a single Dad with 3 kids, the youngest being my only girl. She's 9 now and a friend at work recommended this book and it was perfect. I gave it to her and we talked a little about it and then she couldn't wait to dive right in. She read it cover to cover and has continued to refer back to it. It's become a very special "girl thing" for her that has really helped her appreciate her differences from her brothers in this otherwise all-male environment.

She's brought up things she's read with an open-ness that I wanted for us but didn't know how to generate. She's talked to me about hygiene - from dental to personal, about the changes she's feeling already in her body and about when she might want to start looking at training bras, etc. As her only parent but also as a guy, I felt really inadaquete about when and how to address this stuff. This book has helped us on our way.

I must add that my daughter is aso carrying herself with a greater sense of awareness of, and appreciation for, her "female-ness" that I frankly wouldn't have thought was possible for someone her age and certainly wouldn't have known how to engender.