Title: What’s The Big Secret?: Why You Need To Know . . . Period
Author: Sonali Shenoy
Illustrator: Annushka Hardikar
Publisher: Puffin India
Type: Paperback
Age group: 7 years+
Given that periods and pads are such a taboo in our society, it delighted me that there was a children’s book that revolved around this topic! I was really curious as to how this subject would be dealt with though. The questions I had were, would we as parents be comfortable reading it to our kids and would it, at the same time, answer the many questions that kids have about periods?
I’m amazed at how lovely and beautiful this book is. It manages to be funny, and provides age appropriate information about menstruation without providing too much information which would either make the child or the parents uncomfortable. The way pregnancy is explained as a soft pillow for the baby and periods as when the pillow is removed from the body when there is no baby, is just brilliant.
The illustrations and narration make it extremely simple to read, and the story is written such that every child will relate to it – seeing a pad and then asking everyone about it, but no one tells you about it.
I absolutely loved how the author has woven what a child may see about pads on the TV into the story – wings and ink. It makes for a very funny and relatable story. An absolute must must read for every child, especially boys.
There is a curated list of recommended books on puberty for children here as well.
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