What does it cover, and does it explain intercourse?
Bodies, gender, feelings and personal boundaries are central, with discussion of body parts, privacy, unwanted touch, crushes and masturbation. Intercourse and reproduction are outside its scope.
Nonfiction · Comics & Graphic Novels · Science · Health & Medicine
Sex Is a Funny Word
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 17 / 100Light
- Length
- 160 pagesTriangle Square · 2015
- Reading time
- 3 h 15 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Moderate
- Emotional intensity
- 2 / 5
About 3 h 15 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 7 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
Sex Is a Funny Word introduces bodies, gender, feelings and personal boundaries in an illustrated sex-education guide. Cory Silverberg covers body parts, privacy, unwanted touch, crushes and masturbation, leaving intercourse and reproduction outside the book’s scope. The children and families pictured represent varied identities, abilities and family arrangements.
Reader notes
Fiona Smyth’s colorful comics present the material through children’s questions and conversations. Chapter questions and activities invite discussion with trusted adults, allowing families to bring their beliefs into the conversation. The format encourages reading and talking together, so it works as a starting point for ongoing discussion as well as a source of information.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Conversational · Dialogue-driven · Direct
- Tone
- Earnest · Hopeful · Playful · Warm
- Structure
- Episodic
- Driven by
- Ideas · Information · Relationships
- Evidence style
- Practical exercises
- Practical orientation
- Actionable
- Nonfiction form
- Explanation synthesis · Prescriptive how to
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 1 / 5
- Ideas
- 2 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Coming of age
- Family
- Gender
- Identity
- Love
- Sexuality
Content notes
- Violence
- None
- Sexual content
- Mild
- Swearing
- None
- Substance use
- None
- Abuse
- None
- Self-harm or suicide
- None
Questions readers ask
Is it meant to be read together with an adult?
Yes, chapter questions and activities invite discussion with trusted adults. Children’s questions and conversations provide a starting point, while families can bring their own beliefs into ongoing conversations.
Is it easy for children to follow?
Yes, Fiona Smyth’s colorful comics explain the material through children’s questions and conversations. The language is direct and conversational, with questions and activities that encourage talking through the ideas together.
What kinds of children and families are represented?
The children and families pictured represent varied identities, abilities and family arrangements. Gender and identity are among the subjects explored alongside bodies, feelings and personal boundaries.
How long is it?
160 pages in the Triangle Square 2015 hardcover edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Triangle Square · 2015 · Hardcover. ISBN 9781609806064.
How long does it take to read Sex Is a Funny Word?
About 3 hours 15 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 160-page Triangle Square edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Cory Silverberg
Cory Silverberg writes inclusive, illustrated sex education for children and young people, treating knowledge as something developed through conversation rather than delivered as a fixed lesson. The books pair direct language with comics, questions, and everyday situations, giving readers practical words for bodies, feelings, boundaries, and care. Sex Is a Funny Word creates a shared vocabulary for children and adults, while You Know, Sex follows young people through candid exchanges about puberty, gender, attraction, consent, pleasure, and relationships. Silverberg places these subjects within family life, culture, disability, race, and social expectations, keeping curiosity and uncertainty present rather than resolving them into a single account of growing up.
If you liked this
The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls
Valorie Lee Schaefer
Health & Medicine · Children's · Health and medicine
Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Glam TV Star
Rachel Renée Russell
Comics & Graphic Novels · Children's · Coming of age
Edition and details
- Publisher
- Triangle Square
- Publication year
- 2015
- Format
- Hardcover
- Pages
- 160
- ISBN
- 9781609806064
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 2015
- Genres and form
- Nonfiction · Comics & Graphic Novels · Science · Health & Medicine · Children's · Health and medicine
- Editions
- 1
- Languages
- 1 (English)