A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey by Kevin Leman & Kathy Flores Bell

A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey With Your Kids About Sex is written in an easy and conversational tone that makes the book a quick one to browse through. The authors do a good job of using stories to engage their readers on the topic and make it less intimidating. It encourages the reader to laugh and reducing discomfort and embarrassment that many people feel when they think about talking about sex with their kids.

The book moves through the content in a logical and well thought out manner. The author address many different aspects of puberty and awkward conversations that can arise at different developmental stages. The authors do an excellent job about providing some guidance on how to handle these situations. They also give some practice advice on ways to react that would make the situation more uncomfortable. The focus is more on the emotional reactions of the children and where they are in their developmental stages more than the physical aspects of puberty. The authors do not go into depth about the mechanics of sex and instead draw attention to some of the other practical challenges young people face and how parents can help their children navigate these areas. The book approaches the subject from a Christian based, sex positive angle which they do quite well. For anyone who is not Christian, the book still offers a lot of valuable information without too many spiritual references or pushing of beliefs. It is a worth while read. The book could have been a more valuable asset if they authors had chosen to expand the focus to include more detail on developmental physical changes but as a short reference guide they do cover their chosen material well.

The authors could do a better job at identifying what voice is being used during telling some of the stories. Throughout the book, the authors interchangeably add their information. The information flows together naturally but when they include their personal stories, it can sometimes be confusing as to who's story, and who's speaking, to be clear. The authors try to mitigate this by indicating the speaker in brackets but this is not always effective and in some spots, doesn't appear until much later into the story. As the authors have different genders and different families, this adds an unnecesary element of confusion to some parts of the book.

This book is a far cry from a comprehensive discussion on how to talk about sex with your kids but it does inlcude some elements not covered in other literature. I would recommend this book as part of a number I would recommend to parents.