Where Did I Come From?
So the other day I mentioned that we don’t get cartoon type books about sex. Well I was wrong. I totally forgot about this one book… two books actually. They’re called Where Did I Come From? and What’s Happening to Me? They’re sex education books that were published in the 70’s and they both feature illustrated cartoon nudity! Don’t get too excited though, the characters in this book look nothing like the ones in the online dating book from yesterday.
They look closer to what your parents might look like. This is for educational purposes after all, but there is a certain cuteness to them.
The love-making part is also less than what might expect… or want.
In Japan they get this…
We get this. Oh well, the book to help kids learn about bodies and sex in a non scary way. This is pretty friendly I think so no worries there. Actually, I totally remember this book because I had it when I was young. I wonder if the cartoon nudity pushed me on the path to toon sex?
I also had the What’s Happening to Me? book which deals with your changing body as you reach your teen years. This was the only pic from the second book I could find. Sadly, I don’t own them any more.
Interesting note, Where Did I Come From? is actually banned in Malaysia. In fact, it’s seen as so dangerous and obscene that if you’re caught distributing or circulating it, you can get a $6,600 fine and three years in prison. Just for learning about sex from cartoons. Malaysia’s home minister said “To talk about the sensational feeling of making love and the rubbing of genitals – how’s that (suitable) for children”? You know, he’s totally right. They should be learning it on the play ground from friends that stole their brothers porn mags. The way nature intended. o_O
Play Asia
November 30th, 2012 at 7:27 am
Hah, I totally remember those books from when I was a kid! They’re probably where I’d first learnt about the birds and the bees – I don’t recall being sat down for a talk by my parents or anything, just that we had said books and that I wasn’t left with any awkward questions or the like. I reckon I was pretty young too, early primary school age or something at the time.
As tame as it tries to be, I think it’d do the trick just nicely, if I were to have any kids someday and needed to explain the whole deal away.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:16 am
My mum got me these books when she was pregnant with my brother. I guess she wanted me to learn where babies come from before I started asking questions. They never had the ‘talk’ with me, just gave me the books. My friend actually had the “Where did I Come From” video.
November 30th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
I learned about sex the old fashioned way, from the stash of Penthouses my dad kept in his desk.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:53 am
I wish that I had had books like this when I was a kid. My mom was uber-uptight about anything sexual, so we didn’t even get ‘the talk’ from her (thank goodness for my dad). I learned about ‘it’ through reading books at the library. I’ll never forget skulking around the stacks with a pile of science fiction novels covering a book on female development. And, no, it wasn’t for entertainment purposes, I really wanted to know about the female body and how it worked. Besides, it was a pretty technical book, and there were many better sources of bate-worthy material available. I’ll have to check out these books to see how well they do at explaining the so-called birds and bees (where did that phrases even come from?).
May 9th, 2013 at 8:08 am
I got these two books from school many years ago and I wanted to learn about the human body, and how it works
hours later I felt depressed because my father was making me say a special magic word.neither please, thank you or I love you worked
May 9th, 2013 at 8:14 am
Peter Mayle should damn-well be ashamed of himself for writing that goddamn book!
If I hadn’t borrowed those books I wouldn’t have gone through the hell that I did!
MAY GOD DAMN YOU TO HELL PETER GODDAMN MAYLE!! I HATE YOU!!
May 10th, 2013 at 7:16 am
I humbly apologize for writing what I wrote
it is just that I do not respect Peter Mayle for writing those blasphemous pieces of filth!
I am signing off now, and as far as I am concerned you’ll never hear from me again!
May 15th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
It was a hard decision to approve these comments. I finally decided to do so because they do represent the other side of these books. I’ve done some research and found a number of people firmly against these books. Which is too bad, because they really are some great books. What happened to you sounds very tragic, but I wouldn’t blame the books. I would blame those that harmed you or told you off. I hope that over time you’ll be able to get past what has happened in your past.
May 10th, 2013 at 7:23 am
every time I saw “those photos” I would get caught with them and also get told off