Children aged 3-6 often ask their parents, "How did I get here?" ”
How do parents generally answer them?
Ms. Hu Ping, an expert in adolescent sexual health education, has created a "childlike understanding" class, in which children learn "where I came from". The following pictures are children's expressions of their source of life:
Is it a bit of a cry to laugh when you see your child's work? These answers are all too familiar to us: picked up from the trash can, charged with a phone bill... If the child keeps asking questions, some parents will feel even more helpless, laughing and replying: "When you grow up, you will know." ”
And so many years have passed. The extent to which the child knows about sexual knowledge is unknown, and may even not protect himself in a dangerous moment and encounter sexual assault.
Almost ten years ago, when Pu Pulan's editor was still in charge of the editing of the two picture books "The Story of the Chicken" and "The Story of the Breast", because it involved sex education knowledge and avoided errors or inappropriate content, the editor contacted Hu Ping, a well-known adolescent sexual health education expert, to review the contents of these two picture books.
Hu Ping
Famous adolescent sexual health education expert, CCTV (CCTV) specially invited child education expert, independent researcher
During the exchange, teacher Hu Ping sighed: "There are too few picture books for children's sex education in China! The editor blurted out, "Yes! Let's make a set of china's original children's sex education picture books! ”
In this way, the realization of this agreement lasted for ten years!
One day in 2011, Teacher Hu Ping wrote a rough manuscript. She believes that it is hoped that children's cognition of life will be constructed at the level of "love", not at the level of "sex". If there's a set of picture books that answers, "Where did I come from?" , should include three levels: parents love each other, sperm and egg combination, the baby's life in the mother's belly and the baby's birth, and "love" should run through these three levels.
In this way, we can help children understand that their lives stem from the love of their parents and mothers, understand the formation of their own lives, know how to love their parents, and cherish their own lives. That is, the three books in this set of "Understanding Childlike Sexual Health Education Picture Books" are "The Story of Dad and Mom", "The Story of Sperm and Eggs", and "The Story of Baby's Life".
Ten years ago, picture books were not as popular as they are now, and there were not as many painters who were interested in creating picture books as they are now. Several searches have been delayed to find a suitable painter. Until I met Kitoko's teacher. The "beautiful, loving" and "rich parent-child warmth" style that the author and editor hope can finally be realized.
Illustrator Gui Tuzi teacher shared behind the scenes of the creation
After that, the compilation and creation process is the same as that of ordinary original picture books, drawing storyboards, constantly discussing and modifying, splitting to determine the original draft, further optimizing and refining the text... However, compared with ordinary original picture books, this book especially needs to work on these two places:
01
Attention needs to be paid to the balance between popularity and beauty
This set of picture books looks like the text and pictures are very simple, there is not much professional knowledge, in fact, it is deliberately hidden in the text, I hope that the child can fully feel the love and beauty, parent-child reading can be immersed in a warm and beautiful atmosphere as much as possible.
For example, the shape and size of the fetus in different months, the shape and number of sperm and eggs, how sperm and eggs are combined, etc... For the creation of pictures, a large amount of information needs to be queried before painting, and attention needs to be paid to details in the process of painting, and it is necessary to carefully examine and verify after painting.
For the creation of words, it is also necessary to carefully consider the words. This set of books deliberately uses a kind and relaxed narrative language, which avoids some words that children are not easy to understand and parents are more awkward to read, and the seemingly simple text not only has knowledge points related to sex, but also contains concepts such as marriage and heredity.
Teacher Hu Ping's expression of Wentu is also cautious. In addition to the daily discussion, after the text and pictures were basically determined, two professional teachers from the Virginity Team were specially invited to participate in the review.
02
Consider both the coherence of the series and the uniqueness of each book
Anyone who knows anything about creating original picture books knows that creating picture books requires repeatedly optimizing the relationship between text and pictures. There are three books in this set, and the three books are both independent and interconnected, and each one needs to be repeatedly optimized. When I finally felt almost the same, I put the three books together, but found that there were repetitive and cumbersome places, and it took a long time to discuss and revise the storyboard.
When it comes to sex education picture books, people often hope that children will understand the relevant knowledge and learn to protect themselves. But feeling the "love" in picture books together is a happy and beautiful thing, and it is more important than simply telling children knowledge.
In this set of books, everyone can pay more attention to the cherishing and respect for life expressed in the book, and the expression and feeling of love. Such as the beautiful colors in the picture book, showing the colorful life and the beauty of life inheritance; the various cares of the father for the mother when the mother is pregnant, the gentle and happy eyes of the father and mother after the birth of the baby, the life scene of the father and mother playing with the child...
When reading together, you can let the child tell what he sees, and the child may tell the story of the picture book in his own language through his own understanding and imagination of the picture, which is the expression of the child's creativity. Parents only need to respond to the ideas and questions raised by their children, and give appropriate explanations and guidance according to the culture of their respective families.
——Some of the content of this article is compiled from the editor's handwriting
Wen Li Bo
/////////
Understand the true sexual health education picture book - where the baby comes from
This set of picture books is jointly cooperated by Hu Ping, a well-known adolescent sexual health education expert in the mainland, and Gui Tuzi, a picture book painter who has won many awards at home and abroad. A set of three books, respectively, tells the three important aspects of "sex education" for children: the birth of the baby is derived from the love of parents and mothers, the birth of life is incomparably magical, and the baby itself has the power to grow. The three main aspects are logically and closely integrated, so that children feel love and know how to cherish life.