This post was going to be about the 60th anniversary of The Catcher in the Rye. Catcher will have to wait as I found an online link to a book that was well-loved by my family. My memory of this book is up there with my Gran reading Robert Graves’ Greek Myths to me, as I sat on her knee by the open fire. I searched for this book months ago when I visited mum. I asked her if she still had it on the shelves. ‘Oh that thing. No, I got rid of it.’
Weird Danish sex explanation book
A shame, as a book like this is so fleeting. While Greek Myths still enjoys reprints, this book is just a memory of 30 and 40-something year-olds, raised in the 1970s by parents that needed comics to explain the finer points of life. Written by Danish author Per Holm Knudsen, I’ve no idea how it came to be on my parents’ book shelves but there it did sit, How a Baby is Made, not a bit out-of-place next to Harry Butler’s In the Wild.
What was most extraordinary about this book was its ability to draw its young audience in. We’d sneak the book into our rooms and look at the magical rude pictures and giggle to ourselves. ‘Tee hee. Look at that weird Danish mummy and daddy.’ Except we didn’t know they were Danish, just that they were rude.
A star is born
Mum clearly didn’t predict the book’s appreciation value. You can buy this book for around $80 second-hand on Amazon. The most magical image is when a star is born. Except in our book, it wasn’t a star. Even comics can be rude on the Internet.
The book would fare well once the Hipster generation have kids, the Dad’s beard convincingly authentic.
If you still aren’t convinced this book should be reprinted, just read the reviews at Amazon:
“Entertainingly dated now, but an easy, pleasant but factual guide for small children about where babies come from. I especially love the hearts on the side of the car.”
The uncensored version can be viewed here (warning: graphic cartoons).
book, memory 