First Comes Love: All About the Birds and the Bees--and Alligators, Possums, and People, Too

by Jennifer Davis, Clare MacKie (Illustrator)

Every parent awaits the question: Where do babies come from? "First Comes Love" is a charming introduction to the birds and the bees, not to mention alligators, spiders, dragonflies, squirrels, peacocks, and--of course--people.
Illustrated by Clare Mackie, whose clever visual jokes and whimsical flourishes will appeal as much to grown-ups as they do to children, the book marries fun rhyming text with fascinating fact to tell a story of love, courtship, and birth across the animal kingdom. Written for the ages of 4 to 8, when kids are at their most curious and least embarrassed, here is the story of the lightning bug-"When the firefly is in a flirting mode, / He scribbles and blinks a special code." The penguin--"Quivering and caressing with flippers and beaks, /They touch and talk for two full weeks." And the kangaroo--"Kangaroo babies are rarely seen, / Because they're no bigger than a lima bean." Then below, in captions that amplify the verse, kids learn that every firefly species has its own blinking language, that penguins try to find the same mate year after year, and that a new-born kangaroo stays in his mother's pouch for the first three months.

Genres: Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Jennifer Davis, a mother of four, wrote Before You Were Born to answer the questions her older kids asked while she was pregnant. She lives in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Reviews

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great simple story about males, females, love and sex in all creatures. It contains a catchy rhyming story with cute pictures as well as a fine print, in depth explanations at the bottom of each page for older readers. I would highly recommend this book to parents teaching their children about "the birds and the bees" (a.k.a. Sex!)

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It has super cute illustrations and an easy telling of "The Birds and the Bees." You may even learn some new fun facts about animals and their mating habits in the footnotes! The rhythm of the poetry could have been worked a little better, but all in all a fun book.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book saturates the reader with too much distracting information about courtship for it to help simply explain to a child where babies come from. The sheer amount of detail left my head spinning. Although I can't imagine reading this to the boys, I did find the poetry and illustrations humorous. The picture of mom & dad in bed is a riot.

[Rachael Knudsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through boxes at the parent's today and came across this picture book from childhood. The illustrations and rhyming on each page are 'laugh out loud' funny the entire way through the book. My poor grandmother for the hundreds of times she had to read this gem to us. :)

[E.M. Makins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book focuses on animals and relationships more, not human baby making, check new book by E. M. Makins called The Birds and the Bees Children's Book! Way better!

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

hilarious, honest look at where we all come from!