I'd like to thank EP Books for giving me a copy of Growing Up God's Way for boys by Dr. Chris Richards and Dr. Liz Jones in return for my honest review, and also for providing a copy for this giveaway!

This past weekend, it became official. My husband and I are parenting through puberty for the fourth time.

Judging by the conversations I've had with other parents, puberty is a tumultuous time... for moms and dads. I get it. We don't want to explain awkward personal details about growing up to our boys and girls. Sometimes, if we're really honest, we don't want them to grow up at all. It's easy to think that if we just ignore the coming of puberty – if we just shelter our kids enough – we can avoid this messy parenting issue altogether.

But puberty is God's plan for our kids. He designed it.

It's our job to explain this new season of life to our children – before they're hit upside the head by biology. Are you with me?

Books about puberty present a whole issue in and of themselves. Sometimes, they present a view of sexuality that completely disagrees with God's plan for marriage and faithfulness. Other times, they may be biblically based, but may editorialize in areas we're not comfortable agreeing with. Still others, books about puberty may give far too much insight into sin in an attempt to sway children to stay on the straight and narrow. Those have been some of my concerns with books on puberty that I've looked at for boys.

What we need is a straightforward, biblical resource about puberty written for boys. It should be scientific, it should include God's design for marriage and family, and it should be age appropriate – explaining the truth of God's plan for boys moving toward manhood without a lot of questionable opinions.

Growing Up God's Way for Boys (EP Books, 2013) is just such a book. It's a wonderful primer on puberty written just for boys ages 10-14 by two Christian pediatricians from the UK, Dr. Chris Richards and Dr. Liz Jones.

Growing Up God's Way for Boys is a well-produced 76-page resource with thick pages and colored cartoons (like the one on the cover) on nearly every page. The book explains to boys their upcoming transformation into men with candor and sensitivity. There is an emphasis on God's intent for family and the proper use of intimacy (within marriage only). The book also briefly and carefully explains the changes that will occur within girls as they go through puberty. This is important because boys may one day be married, and they truly need to know where babies come from. However, if your child isn't ready for this particular chapter, it's easily censored for a period of time by reading the book aloud and skipping the information about girls.

A word about the cartoons: there are a few anatomical cartoons that help illustrate points about puberty, prenatal development in the womb, and childbirth. They're not graphic and they are cartoons. They were enough to make my ten-year-old blush. I thought they were far less revealing than most non-fiction anatomy books for elementary school students.

The chapter headings in Growing Up God's Way for Boys are:

1.An introduction to puberty

2.Marriage

3.Puberty and how it starts

4.How your body changes

5.How the body changes in girls

6.Physical intimacy

7.Changes in the way you think

8.Going out and beyond {on the process of dating}

9.Preparing for the future

Friends, we must address the topic of puberty biblically with our kids in an upbeat manner. Puberty is a part of God's grand plan for our kids. Growing Up God's Way for Boys by Dr. Chris Richards and Dr. Liz Jones is an excellent resource to use with your 10-14-year-old boys.

As a father and as a minister of families, I am always on the look out for books which aid parents teach their children, from using media to dating and marriage as well as everything in between. One series of books that caught my eye a few months ago, and that I recently had the privilege of reviewing, is Growing Up Gods Way which is published by Evangelical Press. The series is comprised of two books Growing Up Gods Way: For Boys and Growing Up Gods Way: For Girls, each book focuses on helping parents talk to their children about their constantly changing bodies, the opposite sex, and romantic relationships. While both books has a similar premise, each book is unique to the gender of the child.

First lets look at the similarities of both books. Each work beings with the foundational idea that people, children specifically, are created by God and that He has a plan for their lives. That while the children are growing up God has created special changes for each gender that will have an effect on the rest of the earthly existence. Furthermore that these changes are purposefully given to growing children so they can grow up to fulfill their given purpose of glorifying God. This God-centric foundation is grounded in Biblical truth, so that the covenant children of God will grow to be men and women of God.

51v1ehwpqkl-_sx352_bo1204203200_Looking specifically at Growing Up Gods Way: For Girls, both Richards and Jones focus on how a young girls body is changing and how it changes her thought mentality, while at the same time showing how a young boys body is changing as well. There is also a great background focus on biblical womanhood and a womans complementary role in marriage as well as in life.

Switching to Growing Up Gods Way: For Boys, both Richards and Jones focus on the changes that young boys will go through in puberty as well as how their relationships with girls and other boys will changes, including changes to their bodies and minds. I was happy 41nbrpv7xsl-_sx334_bo1204203200_to see the authors have their work immersed in Gods Word but to specifically add a section on Biblical headship as well as how men alone are qualified for the offices of the church (Deacon, Ruling Elder, and Teaching Elder) was a welcomed addition. Furthermore I was surprised to not truly see a weak-spot worth mentioning this work for each section and chapter were on point both Biblically and medically.

Page after page I am continually surprised how both Richards and Jones keep these squeamish and many times confusing topics at a level that growing children can not only understand but apply to their lives, as their body and thought processes change. At such a difficult time in their lives these books are a resource that should not be over looked and can never be overused, for children are in desperate need of Scripturally grounded truths taught by the people who have the most influence on them, guided by godly medical professionals.

This work is ambitious in its goal, to be Biblically sound while still understandable by children and it brilliantly succeeds. I will be recommending this book to parents of growing children in the church I serve in, as well as any who minister to parents of growing children, without hesitation, and I will be using these works when my own children grow to an age-appropriate time to discuss this important topic of living a God-honoring lives with regard to their bodies and future romantic relationships.

This book was provided to me free of charge from Evangelical Press in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.



Growing Up Gods Way: For Girls

2014 by Chris Richards and Liz Jones

Publisher: Evangelical Press

Page Count: 80 Pages

ISBN: 978-1783970001



Growing Up Gods Way: For Boys

2014 by Chris Richards and Liz Jones

Publisher: Evangelical Press

Page Count: 80 Pages

ISBN: 978-0852349991