Book Recommendation: Sex Positive Talks to Have With Kids: A guide to raising sexually healthy, informed, empowered young people by Melissa Pintor Carnagey LBSW

When a parent sent me a photo of this book and recommended it to me, I have to admit, my first reaction was “How cool! But can I share this with the Common Ground Community!? Is it okay!?”

I feel like this is an important topic, yet I felt slightly uncomfortable.

After reading “Sex Positive Talks to Have with Kids”, I realized my reaction was colored by my own upbringing and the fact that I was brought up in a house where discussing our bodies and sex were taboo. Which is funny, considering that I watched Beverly Hills, 90210 - a show that broke barriers when it came to how sex and teenagers were portrayed on TV - with my parents, beginning in the third grade! I guess that was there way of making sure I knew things without having to have uncomfortable conversations.

This book is a great resource for parents! It has conversation starters for each age group - birth to age 3, ages 4-8, ages 9-12, and teens, covering a lot of great topics. The goal is to normalize these conversations and have shame free talks so that children grow up prepared, not scared.

The topics covered in the book are:

• bodily functions

• body parts

• consent

• good touch/bad touch

• gender identity

• and so much more!

We encourage you to order the book (the links provided in this post are amazon affiliate links that support Common Ground’s non-profit mission), check out their Instagram, and begin to have the age appropriate, sex positive conversations in your home!

I’d also like to thank the parent that brought this book to our attention as a great resource for our community. And now after writing this post, I have Salt-N-Peppa in my head!