At the outset, I have to admit I picked up this book mainly because I was just curious. When I was about 10 years old, my mom gave me a very brief overview of menstruation and that was it. I learnt more about it in biology class but didn’t really get to know the complete information until a few years later.
When I saw Menstrupedia, I was little cynical about how can you pass on so much information so that girls as young as 8 or 9 years old would understand. As soon as I started reading, I forgot about other things and was caught up in reading.
The Team
Menstrupedia aims to educate young girls about the biological changes their body undergoes. Through a variety of media, the concept of puberty, menstruation and other changes are explained in a simpler manner. And the credits for presenting the content in an easy to understand and interesting format goes to the Founder, Aditi Gupta and Co-Founders, Tuhin Paul and Rajat Mittal. You can find out more about this dynamic team here.
About the Book
Menstrupedia tells the story of three young girls, Pinki, Jiya, and Mira who get to know about the facts of puberty and menstruation through Priya, a doctor and Pinki’s sister.
Contrary to the name, Menstrupedia doesn’t just talk about periods. It describes the physical and emotional changes that occur in both boys and girls while growing up. It gives information on what comprises of a healthy diet and everything your child needs to know about periods.
The book even describes how babies are conceived, which is often an embarrassing topic for parents to discuss with their children.
The content is expressed in simple terms and in conversation format, which makes it easy for children to read and understand. The information covered is comprehensive and the images and illustrations make reading more interesting and entertaining. Providing information from a doctor’s point of view has added more credibility to the information.
With the help of this book, you can make your child understand why periods happen, what to do when it happens and how to manage it. You can either read the book with your child or ask them to read it and then discuss it with them.
What I liked most about the book was that the authors didn’t stop with explaining about periods, they have gone on to explain the myths associated with periods and whether it is valid or not.
A Mom’s View
As a generation of educated parents, raising independent and intelligent daughters, I feel it is necessary not to force outdated beliefs and customs on them. We should provide them with all the information we can and let them make a choice. This book will help you do that.
I am glad that today’s children have an opportunity to read this book and prepare themselves for puberty without having to rely on hearsay information. I would say this is a must read for every young girl (and boys too if possible) and definitely recommend this book to parents of young daughters.
Availability
To know more about the book, visit their website http://www.menstrupedia.com/
The book is available in English and Hindi and can be bought online here: http://www.menstrupedia.com/comic/english
For more helpful resources, don’t forget to checkout http://www.menstrupedia.com/quickguide
