Cover Image: The Bare Naked Book

The Bare Naked Book

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Member Reviews

This book is exactly what the title says, bare naked. I can’t think of a better book for talking about bodies with kids, because this one is as inclusive as it gets. I think it does a good job at showing naked bodies in ways that are natural without being sexual, i.e. the mom jumping out of the shower to chase a naked toddler, we have all been there. We also really appreciate the wide range of disabilities shown. My son uses hearing aids and it is always exciting to see him represented in picture books.

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This was soooo adorable. Originally published in 1986, The Bare Naked Book is back and more inclusive than ever. The author decided that the originally published book was not as inclusive as it should have been so she created a new one! This book is so beautiful and diverse. It does show, unsurprisingly, bare naked body parts and its intention is to teach children about bodies, so to each parent their own. Some would be uncomfortable with their children seeing that and others want to teach their children about things like bodily autonomy from a young age. No one is right or wrong on that front. I personally would love my future children to have a book like this where they can learn about their own bodies and understand inclusivity about other people's bodies as well. Amazing book and SO SO important.

Thank you to NetGalley and Annick Press for an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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A beautiful update to a classic children's book! Featuring some of the best artwork I've seen in a children's book in a long time -- it's bright and colorful and engaging. The diversity within this book is vast and inclusive of so many different types of bodies. What a wonderful celebration of the skin we are in!

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The Bare Naked Book was a popular book at my house in the early 90s and it was a great introduction to seeing different types of bodies and talking about them with curiosity and without shame, so when I saw that it had been updated I was really interested in seeing what has changed. And I was thrilled! There are young bodies and old bodies; Black bodies and white bodies and with a variety of skin tones and cultures reflected (people wearing hijabs, turbans, patkas); fat bodies and slim bodies; bodies in wheelchairs and bodies with crutches and canes; amputees; bodies with hearing aids; coloured hair, braided hair, cornrows and dreadlocks, underarm hair; piercings (ears, but also noses and nipples); bodies with glasses and braces; bodies using sign language; stretch marks, scars; trans bodies!

I was expecting there would be more diversity before I even opened it, but it made me so happy to see all of these different types of bodies reflected. The original was an important beginning to my education on the body, but this is a more inclusive book both in its illustrations and the terms that are used. It’s beautiful and I’m feeling grateful for the work that was done to update this important conversation-starter on love for our own and others’ diverse bodies.

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I think this book is great. It's pitched perfectly to the target audience and clearly describes body parts without the need for cutesy names.
Bodies are not taboo and the illustrations and content is more than acceptable

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So, I'm a little bit dumbfounded. And extremely thankful I read through the book before reading it to my kids, because I will not be reading it to my kids. There is full on nudity in the book! I certainly don't want to see that and I would not let my kids view it either. I did like how the author had a wide variety of ethnicities and normalized various handicaps, but besides that, this book was a HUGE no from me. Now I get to be paranoid about children's book having mature content too....great.

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I did like this book and it's lesson that everyone has different bodies but I am a bit old fashioned so some of the naked illustrations I wouldn't feel comfortable to share with children. I do believe it is up to the parent on what a child learns and would not be opposed of parent's sharing this book with their child but it wouldn't be a book for my family. Thanks so much to #netgalley for the early review copy.

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