Do not read The P Word : A Manual for Mammals at work, even on your lunch break. Unless of course you have a private spot, or you are reading on your phone. That is because the P word is not for (as I first thought) tinkle (okay tinkle does not start with P but you know what I mean!). No, the P word is for P is for penis. (I can almost guarantee you won’t find that in your grandmother’s alphabet book!)
The first few pages in, I realized that okay this is an interesting book. The introduction is by the father of a ten-year-old boy. David Hu’s text is probably age appropriate and even could go younger or slightly older. The items mentioned are based on conversations he has had with his son. However, I was thinking that illustrator Ilias Arahovitis would not grab that 10 to 13-year-old-reader with their illustrations. They look a lot younger than what that group would be looking for. They look like something you’d see in the magazine Cricket or Spider; cute, colorful, and minimal details.
I am writing this with only about half of the book read, but I can let you know a few important things. The text is factual but not “boring facts” allowing it to be accessible. It is a nice introduction for kids, but also for adults who might need to talk to kids. It is not just talking about sexual aspects of the penis, but also things like urination, and the color it should/could be. And we do not just focus on the human aspects (there is a section about how whale pee is good for the ocean). The other part is, while it might seem obvious, I will mention that we see the penis. The images are drawn so you’re not seeing photographs, but still there is no question that is an 8-foot whale penis. (Okay you can’t tell it is 8 feet, but you can tell that it is a whale, monkey, human, etc. organ).
