I am a conservative, born-again, follower of Jesus, Christian mother of 8 (four sons) that has homeschooled the last 20 years. I currently use Sonlight Curriculum with modifications. Sonlight Curriculum added this book to its 2008-2009 Science selection. It is in the 2009-2010 catalog as well. I am writing this review because I want to warn other Christians of some specifics about this book that I found disappointing, if not disturbing. I will list 3 specific items that convinced me not to hand this book over to our Sonlight 5 student.
1. pg 76 "Some boys are raised by a single parent, grandparents, two moms, two dads, in foster families, blended families, by aunts and uncles, and combinations of the above." An opportunity to teach what the Bible says about family and marriage.
2. pg 82 "If you and your parents are constantly fighting about rules in the house, ask for more details about their expectations." We do not "fight" with our children.
3. pg 99 When discussing what to do with "out of control feelings", the author states, "If you're at home and can't get away and do anything else, sometimes just yelling into a pillow will work wonders!" What does the Bible teach about handling anger - certainly not to yell into a pillow.
I have a problem with each of these statements the author makes. This book is a good example of why we, as parents, need to preread the material our children are expected to read as part of any curriculum program. I would hope that the Sonlight curriculum developers have notes in the teacher's manual on these specific pages in this book, and that parents using Sonlight wouldn't just hand this book to their child to read without discussing these issues.
Other than the above statements that are troublesome, the remainder of the book is well done. Most of the contents are common sense issues that are usually discussed with a son anyway (i.e. body odor as they mature).
Buy The Boy's Body Book: Everything You Need to Know for Growing Up YOU (Boys World Books)!
