Frank C. Hawkins

Learning to take care of your own body is part of growing up, and as adults we sometimes forget how much there is for children to learn. The Boy's Body Guide is a health and hygiene handbook for boys 8 and older that can help teach boys what they need to know, including important information about subjects that may be embarrassing or difficult for them to discuss with an adult.

The book is generally organized by body parts, and covers a wide range of topics. There is basic information on health and fitness, including exercise and nutrition, that shares its material with The Boys Fitness Guide. There is information on topics that adults may never think to address, such as the proper care of your toenails. Other sections deal with awkward topics such as head lice, warts, and dandruff. Changes that may come with puberty are addressed throughout the book, including developing “peach fuzz” and acne. An entire chapter is devoted to Private Parts, with straightforward explanations and advice on topics such as erections and masturbation.

The Boy's Body Guide is written in a tone that is no-nonsense yet also reassuring for young boys. When discussing sensitive topics such as bed wetting or penis size, the Guide offers its explanations in a way that will help boys feel comfortable in their own bodies, and also minimize their anxieties about how they may be different from other boys. Each chapter is brief and easy to read, with simple and clear illustrations. The Boy's Body Guide is an excellent resource for boys to understand their own bodies and how they are changing, in a safe and nonthreatening manner It can also be useful as a guide for fathers and other adult caregivers to use in teaching boys about subjects that can often be awkward to discuss. Review by Book Dads… (más)

One of the challenges for modern fathers is teaching and modeling good health and physical fitness habits for our children, especially for boys. This wasn't a requirement for our own fathers, but with increasing rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles (including among young people), establishing lifelong healthy habits has become a vital skill for children to learn. This is an especially important role for fathers (and uncles and even grandfathers) to play with their sons, since they can be a boy's strongest model for what it means to be a healthy adult male. Of course, most adult men have a hard enough time maintaining a healthy lifestyle even without the added demands of parenthood, so how will we find the time to teach fitness to our sons?

That's where The Boy's Fitness Guide comes in. This is practical and straightforward advice on health and fitness, written in an easy-to-understand format for boys as young as elementary age through their teen years. Most of the book is devoted to exercise, with separate chapters explaining the fundamentals of muscles and exercise, stretching, resistance exercise and aerobic exercise. This is followed by a chapter on nutrition, which includes charts that clearly explain the functions of different vitamins and minerals, and the GO-SLOW-WHOA approach to choosing healthy food and drink. There is also a chapter on body care, which includes good practices for personal, oral, and sleep hygiene.

This book is written for the perspective of boys, and is presented with their concerns in mind. For example, aerobic exercise is discussed as a way to do things like play soccer without getting out of breath. It also seeks to address questions that may occur to young boys, such as explaining that resistance exercise will tone your body but won't make your muscles bigger until after puberty. There are also brief sections on little-discussed issues of importance including eating disorders and anabolic steroids.

The tone of the book is upbeat and encouraging without ever fully descending into saccharine moralizing or syrupy optimism. This combination of upbeat tone and practical advice helps it portray fitness as something achievable and accessible even for boys who are not “jocks” or particularly athletic. The Boy's Guide to Fitness is useful as a resource for boys to learn how to maintain their own health and fitness, as well as for fathers or other adult males to use as a guide in teaching boys about a topic that has become an important life skill. Review by Book Dads… (más)