Our Mission

Anatomy for Kids aims to empower your child by teaching them about their biology. Our goal is for them to be confident as their body changes during puberty. Through a foundation of age-appropriate books and download items, Dr. M walks step-by-step with you and your child (from as young as 5-7 years old) until they have completed puberty (about 14-15 years old). There is still so much yet for your child to learn after they have completed puberty and have become sexually mature. Dr. M’s ultimate mission is to make sure your child has all the information they need to navigate their young adult years.

Another objective of Anatomy for Kids is to provide accurate, easy to understand information for parents.

• A concern for most parents is knowing what to teach their child about their changing body and when they should begin the teaching. Using Dr. M’s first book in the girl series, I’m a Girl, Special Me, or the first book in the boy series, I’m a Boy, Special Me, children 5-7 years old can begin to learn about some of their special anatomy. In a fun and beautifully illustrated storybook format, your child is taught simple structures. From this very basic level, they can move to the next book in the series that begins to explain changes they are going to experience as they enter puberty. There are five age-appropriate books in the Girl Series and five age-appropriate books in the Boys Series.

•  Maybe you would like to have a resource that helps answer a specific question that your child has raised. Dr. M has created out of her books Small Topics to help you answer those specific questions. Under Downloads, you can find a variety of topics that are specific to your child’s needs based on their age and biological sex. As a gift to you, Dr. M has written a set of 7-Minute Chats to accompany each of the Small Topics. With the 7-Minute Chats, she is promoting the end of the “One Big Talk” and encouraging brief chats that address one small issue. As your child enters puberty, 7 minutes is the length of time they are going to be willing to visit these topics with you. Make them fun and they will be surprisingly effective.

• A series of videos and blogs are also available for parents. As always, you can select the correct biological sex of your child, together with their age group, to explore a variety of topics Dr. M has selected for you.

Dr. M founded Anatomy for Kids in 2013 as a passion project she had dreamed about for many years. After retiring early from UCLA Medical School as a Professor of Anatomy, she spent endless hours with parents to understand their needs. Although her plan was to write one book for girls and one book for boys, she quickly learned that age-dependent books were needed. There were certain concepts parents wanted their 10-year old to understand and others that were beyond their maturity level. Now there are 10 books, 5 for girls and 5 for boys.

Celebrate Puberty ® has been coined by Dr. M to emphasize her vision. Although puberty can be a challenging time for you as the parent and for your child, what is happening in their body is something to be celebrated. She is hopeful that her books for your child, and the website resources for parents, promotes a positive, encouraging spirit in families as Dr. M joins with you on this important journey in your child’s life.

Dr. Metten is also a mother and grandmother who understands the anxiety that parents feel as they consider talking to their kids about puberty and sex, and she believes she can help by providing easy-to-understand resources.  The materials she has prepared are designed to guide parents as the conversation unfolds in their own homes.