12 Books About Puberty for Kids & Adults

Today’s book list is one that I feel is vitally important for families and I hope it provides resources for a variety of age and developmental levels. And while I don’t often include a lot of, specifically, parental and caregiver options, today I threw one in that could be helpful.

Puberty is happening earlier and earlier now for many kids and both adults and kids should be comfortable in the understanding of what’s happening and what’s to come. I’m not sure when puberty became this hush-hush topic that is uncomfortable for many, but kids deserve to know what’s happening to their bodies and they need trusted sources to turn to.

This list includes books for a younger audience – 7-10 years old, middle school 10-14, and even one that may skew a little older. It’s up to your family to find the resources that best suit your needs. I tried to provide some current information that not only includes both boys and girls, but also some information for gender nonconforming kids as well. Some of these titles also includes information about crushes and sexual health, while others focus solely on physical changes to your body. Whatever it is you’re looking for, I hope you find some helpful information in these great puberty resources.

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12 Books About Puberty for Kids & Adults

The Boys’ Guide to Growing Up by Phil Wilkinson

A friendly and reassuring guide for boys as they approach puberty, explaining the changes that will happen to their bodies as they grow up and how these changes might make them feel. Covering everything from body hair and vocal changes to mood swings and self-esteem, puberty and parenting expert Phil Wilkinson addresses any worries that boys might have relating to what is ‘normal’. He reassures readers and boosts their confidence, encouraging them to feel positive about the changes they will experience as they go through puberty.

The Boys’ Guide to Growing Up also includes advice on topics such exercise, healthy eating, shaving, talking about feelings and how puberty affects girls, and has an age-appropriate section on sex and reproduction.

The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls by Valorie Schaefer

Our best-selling body book for girls just got even better! With all-new illustrations and updated content for girls ages 8 and up, it features tips, how-tos, and facts from the experts. (Medical consultant: Cara Natterson, MD.) You’ll find answers to questions about your changing body, from hair care to healthy eating, bad breath to bras, periods to pimples, and everything in between.

The Care & Keeping Of You 2 by Cara Natterson

Book 2 in our best-selling body book series for girls just got even better! With all-new illustrations and updated content, this title features tips, how-tos, and facts from the experts. This thoughtful advice book will guide you through the next steps of growing up. With illustrations and expert contributors, this book covers new questions about periods, your growing body, peer pressure, personal care, and more! Written by Dr. Cara Natterson for girls 10 and up, The Care & Keeping of You 2 follows up the original bestseller with even more in-depth details about the physical and emotional changes you’re going through.

The Every Body Book: The LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families by Rachel E. Simon and Noah Grigni

This vibrant and beautifully illustrated book teaches children sex, gender and relationships education in a way that is inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Covering puberty, hormones, pregnancy, consent, sex, babies, relationships and families, it uses gender-neutral language throughout and celebrates diversity in all its forms, including race, ethnicity, faith, bodies, gender and sexuality. For use with children aged 8-12, it will help answer their questions and spark open discussion with parents, carers and teachers. With informative illustrations and further resources and a guide for adults, The Every Body Book is the ultimate sex, gender and relationships education resource for children.

Growing into You!: An Inclusive, Shame-Busting, Get-Real Guide to Your Changing Body and Mind by Melissa Pintor Carnagey and Brianna Gilmartin

Body hair. Changing friendships, feelings, and fluids. The tween years can be awkward and confusing—but with enough information and an open mind, you can thrive! Growing into You! has all the facts you’re looking for and more. For example, did you know that . . .

• Voice changes happen to people of all genders?
• Breast buds aren’t something only girls develop?
• Sleep actually helps your bones and muscles grow?
• Everyone has their own unique relationship to gender?

By the founder of Sex Positive Families, a groundbreaking education platform dedicated to shame-free, inclusive conversations about bodies and sexuality, Growing into You! is a modern primer on the puberty years for Generation Alpha.

Packed with essential information, conversation starters, surprising facts, fun activities, and more, you’ll find plenty to take into the real world with you. After all, growing into you is a journey—so it’s time to embrace curiosity, ask questions, and treat your body with respect and care!

Growing Up: An Inclusive Guide to Puberty and Your Changing Body by Greener Rachel

Growing up is a natural part of life, and every child deserves to understand the different ways their body may change as they grow older. While puberty happens to everyone, every child’s journey from childhood to being a grown-up will be as unique as they are!

In this honest, accessible, and inclusive illustrated guide to puberty, young readers can find out exactly what they and their peers may experience as they grow up. From getting taller and discovering hair growing in new places to developing breasts, experiencing periods, or having wet dreams, this book provides the perfect stepping stone for every caregiver to have an open conversation about what puberty really means.

Working closely with a leading national LGBTQ+ organization as well as a biology specialist and a diversity, equality, and inclusivity consultant, Growing Up covers everything from biological sex and gender identity to physical changes and emotional development, including sections on friendships and emotional health, creating and respecting boundaries, and online safety.

Guy Stuff: The Body Book for Boys by Cara Natterson and Micah Player

From the author of the bestselling Care & Keeping of You series! This book will provide you with the answers that will help you take care of yourself better, from hair care to healthy eating, bad breath to shaving, acne to voice changes, and everything in between. With tips, how-tos, and facts from a real pediatrician, it’s the perfect book to help you learn about your body’s changes.

It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

With more than 1.5 million copies in print, It’s Perfectly Normal has been a trusted resource on sexuality for more than twenty-five years. Rigorously vetted by experts, this is the most ambitiously updated editionyet, featuring to-the-minute information and language accompanied by new and refreshed art.

Updates include:

• A shift to gender-neutral vocabulary throughout
• An expansion on LGBTQIA topics, gender identity, sex, and sexuality—making this a sexual health book for all readers
• Coverage of recent advances in methods of sexual safety and contraception with corresponding illustrations
• A revised section on abortion, including developments in the shifting politics and legislation as well as an accurate, honest overview
• A sensitive and detailed expansion on the topics of sexual abuse, the importance of consent, and destigmatizing HIV/AIDS
• A modern understanding of social media and the internet that tackles rapidly changing technology to highlight its benefits and pitfalls and ways to stay safe online

Inclusive and accessible, this newest edition of It’s Perfectly Normal provides young people with the knowledge and vocabulary they need to understand their bodies, relationships, and identities in order to make responsible decisions and stay healthy.

Parenting Through Puberty: Mood Swings, Acne, and Growing Pains by Suanne Kowal-Connelly

Puberty is tough on kids—and maybe even more so on parents! Parenting Through Puberty explains the physical and emotional changes you can expect to see in your child. Dr. Kowal-Connelly covers the nitty-gritty of adolescents’ changing bodies, and, critically, addresses the emotional toll puberty can take, covering issues of moodiness, body image, and self-esteem. Dr. Kowal-Connelly’s reassuring advice also includes ways to encourage your tween or teen to embrace a healthy, active lifestyle in these crucial years, with tips on exercise and nutrition.

Puberty Is Gross, But Also Really Awesome by Gina Loveless and Lauri Johnston

Puberty . . . is pretty gross for pretty much everyone. It’s a smelly, hairy, sticky, and (worst of all) totally confusing time! But did you know there’s a lot about puberty that makes it REALLY AWESOME?

Get the whole picture with this honest, humorous, and empowering survival guide to the tween years. It’s packed with straighforward illustrations, easy-to-understand scientific information, interesting studies, and tips from experts, covering everything from breast development and gender identity to acne and mental health.

No matter your gender, sexuality, or race, this book is for you. Never shying away from the tough stuff, this utterly modern take on puberty is the resource this generation needs! Welcome to modern puberty–it’s transformative, kind of gross, but undeniably AWESOME!

You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth

In a bright graphic format featuring four dynamic middle schoolers, You Know, Sex grounds sex education in social justice, covering not only the big three of puberty—hormones, reproduction, and development—but also power, pleasure, and how to be a decent human being. 

Centering young people’s experiences of pressures and joy, risk and reward, and confusion and discovery, there are chapters on body autonomy, disclosure, stigma, harassment, pornography, trauma, masturbation, consent, boundaries and safety in our media-saturated world, puberty and reproduction that includes trans, non-binary, and intersex bodies and experience, and more. 

Racially and ethnically diverse, inclusive of cross-disability experience, this is a book for every kind of young person and every kind of family.

You Know, Sex is the first thoroughly modern sex ed book for every body navigating puberty and adolesence, essential for kids, everyone who knows a kid, and anyone who has ever been a kid.

You-Ology: A Puberty Guide for Every Body by Trish Hutchison, Kathryn Lowe, and Melisa Holmes

From the most trusted name in child health, American Academy of Pediatrics, comes a new, inclusive approach to learning about puberty! Remember that awkward day in school when the boys went to one classroom and the girls to another and everyone nervously giggled, learning about taboo topics like menstruation and erections? What if your kids could learn about changing bodies in a way that isn’t secretive or shameful? And what if it could even be inclusive, fun, and, well, kind of adorable?

A new kind of puberty guide, You-ology embraces an inclusive approach that normalizes puberty for all kids. Traditional puberty education only contributes to a sense of isolation and often does not include all kids’ experience of puberty and leaves kids with questions about how puberty will affect their friends and classmates. For curious kids and parents looking to talk about puberty in an inclusive way, You-ology offers fact-based, age-appropriate, and body positive information about the physical, social, and emotional changes ahead for all kids.

Colorful illustrations keep the tone upbeat and engaging, while short stories featuring a cast of diverse characters add relatability and humor. Helping kids understand what EVERY body goes through in puberty, grows greater compassion and empathy for all.