I was provided an e-arc from netgalley to read and review

I unfortunately missed the opportunity to read

I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. I think this book is for older kids who will understand the vocabulary. It is good information but maybe over the heads of young children.

This series of books is a must have for libraries and class rooms. Each takes a look at a social issue and breaks it down in ways that are easy to understand. This book looks at bodies. Not the scientific way of looking at bodies, but a psychological way. It takes questions kids ask like “what are their different change areas for boys and girl” and answers it in an emotionally intelligent way that kids can understand. As the book goes along it also defines concepts like boundaries, body safety, and even consent. All in a way that can be understood by a 4 or 5 year old, with out talking down to them. Excellent resource!
#LitsyAtoZ #childrensbooks

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

great informative read for children. i believe we've read other books by this author, and i enjoyed them.

I think, ultimately, <i>Under Our Clothes</i> by Jillian Roberts has a good message behind it and certainly good intentions, but doesn't quite fully manage to achieve all of its goals. I personally think that I would look elsewhere for a path to educate any child I might have on these topics rather than this book for a number of reasons, but what it all comes down to is the fact that the messages in this book aren't focused in a way that allows the message to match diversity as much as it should. And while body image and understanding privacy and consent are incredibly important, the ways in  which this information should be presented needs to avoid the possibility of the message being misunderstood or noninclusive.

The majority of the book is great, helps discuss why bodies are different and the importance of consent in anything involving our personal selves. There are a great number of questions that any child might have addressed adequately and tastefully throughout. Where the book has the opportunity to succeed, it mostly does. The one area in which the book does not succeed is when it discusses the medical industry and how, at times, a doctor may need to examine someone's body. While I would never expect a book to go in depth into the ways in which a medical professional may--as it has happened in the past--take advantage of their ability to override privacy under the guise of taking care of one's health, I do think it is still important to discuss consent in this case. Yes, a doctor may need to do things in order to assess the health of a person, however this should still be something in which the importance of consent is recognized. The importance of trust with one's doctor and the importance of being able to say no when one feels uncomfortable in this situation is a message that I believe children do need.

Finally, I wish this book had included more than just male and female bodies and the ways in which those who do not identify with one specific gender or may feel as though the gender they were assigned does not match the gender that they are. I do realize that this is a controversial issue, but for those children experiencing these feelings, including something like that could do so much for them and the resulting exclusion of it from this book makes it almost completely useless for those kids. It is unfortunate and wrong, in my opinion, that we do not expose children to these facts and therefore end up isolating them but also isolating others from understanding them.

Overall, I wouldn't say that this is a bad book and I do think that there are parts of it that are important and beneficial, but the truth is that it could have been so much more, so much better, and infinitely more helpful with some changes.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Under our Clothes is a book that aims to have an "open and positive conversation about our bodies." As an elementary school teacher and mom to a toddler, I was hoping that this book would help me to have some difficult conversations with children about body parts, appropriate vs. inappropriate touches, privacy, and body image, and it completely exceeded my expectations. The book very simply and matter-of-factly explains so much about bodies and boundaries, and it also talks about gender and how not everyone fits into the traditional binary system. I also really appreciate how it includes a "Body Safety Checklist" to help kids know what is safe and not safe when it comes to their bodies and private areas.
Some of the book is a little bit complicated for its younger audience members (the concepts themselves are understandable, but I think the vocabulary/wording is a little too advanced) but overall, I think it is a really important book that would make a good addition to parents' libraries. I personally feel that it is essential to start talking to kids early about accurate names for body parts, what good/bad touches are, and how every body is different and beautiful, and this book does an amazing job of getting that conversation going.

Every child (and adult) should read this book! Honesty one of the best children's books about bodies and boundaries I've read in a while. I love how diverse the people in the photos are and I especially love how it talks not just about the child's who reading boundaries and etc but also mentions others and reminds the child to be mindful of others as well. I love that this book goes over consent. I can not wait to read the rest of the books in this series to the kids!

I'm not sure about this one. I might recommend it, but with some caveats. I don't know if it's really the sort of book you can just hand to a kid without further engagement on the subject, as there are some things that could be potentially confusing.

The layout and question-and-answer format is well done, and helps present the information in an easy-to-read way. The first part of the book is probably the strongest, as it talks about concepts such as modesty, privacy, and consent... although there could be confusion on that last point. The book continually reinforces the fact that our bodies are our own, and we have a say about who gets to touch them. Unfortunately, this is somewhat confusingly negated when the book states that sometimes people like doctors need to look at or touch your private parts. I can see how this could be potentially confusing for a child. You've just been told that you're allowed to determine who touches your body, based on whether or not you feel comfortable... and then you're told to ignore those feelings because it's a doctor. Feelings are feelings, and while medical exams can be important, this contradictory message could be very confusing for the target audience. It's basically asking kids to say no if they're feeling uncomfortable... but only if the person isn't in a position of authority. (I'm not really faulting the author for this. I don't know the right answer here. I'm just saying the message could be confusing.)

The second part of the book is a little weaker for me. It focuses mostly on body image and self-esteem. I was given numerous books on the subject when I was a kid, and none of them ever helped much. We can't expect a book to counteract all the social and cultural body-image damage that's being done on a daily basis through our media and social interactions. I like that body shaming is defined, but knowing what it is doesn't exactly help a person deal with it.

Finally, the message of being comfortable in the body you have is good in principle, but it kind of ignores people who might not feel comfortable with their body because of gender issues. Would this book be okay for cisgender kids? Yes. For transgender kids? Probably not. Passing mention is made of gender issues in a little blurb on bathrooms, but there's really nothing about body acceptance and self-esteem for kids who are transgender, gender-fluid, etc.

So... would I recommend this one? Possibly. The first part of the book is pretty universal and covers some important topics. But the fact that the second part of the book relies so heavily on cisgender norms to promote body acceptance means that it's not going to be appropriate for everyone. Use your own discretion when giving this book to a child.

Awesome book! Such a range of topics covered - everything from breastfeeding to personal boundaries to consent. This is a book you could use starting at a young age and introduce more from it as kids get older (and are ready for more mature information).