Following the breakout success of the book that revolutionized sex education for children in several countries around the world, renowned Australian TV production company CJZ has released an animated series that is now available for audiences in the United States.
The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made is a completely original and entertaining production created to deliver funny, frank and embarrassment-free sex education for children. The 21-minute illustrative animation lesson is comprised of 3 x 7-minute episodes, and available to purchase directly from amazingbabies.tv/usa and on digital platforms iTunes and Amazon.
Based on the best-selling book by Fiona Katauskas that brought a decidedly modern, “real talk” approach to sex education for children, The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made ditches the out-dated teachings in previous books and language around sexuality that is still in classrooms to this day.
For parents wanting help with “the talk,” The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made is also available as a full family resource kit that includes all three episodes of the series, a visual glossary of keywords with interactive audio, a fun multiple-choice quiz to help consolidate learning, and examples of curious questions that might come up along with suggested answers.
“It provides a great opportunity for the young and not-so-young to sit down together and appreciate just how truly amazing the human body can be,” said Katauskas.
A modern Sydney mom, the award-winning author, cartoonist and illustrator realized, as her two sons were growing up and starting to ask their own questions, that education around sexuality is too often clinical, dull and restrained.
“When my oldest son asked where babies come from, I made my way to a large bookshop expecting to find shelves groaning with volumes on the subject. Instead, I found only two books. One was complicated and boring and the other was the same book my mother had read to me as a child – a book that was published in 1973!”
As a visual storyteller, she decided that it was time for a fresh approach to sex education that is simple, inclusive, informative and entertaining. She opted to write an honest, inclusive and relevant book that didn’t gloss over facts. Proper terminology for body parts and what happens when babies are created is an important element of the book and the series. “Labelling things properly is empowering,” Katauskas avered.
This new approach evidently had a ready and eager audience, and Katauskas’ book has now been published in countries as diverse as Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, China, Israel and Lithuania.
The book’s stories and illustrations are brought to life in the series by CJZ and award-winning animators Jonathan Nix and Sebastian Danta, with a 2D watercolor style that matches the book’s artistic approach. The series provides an accurate but fun take on the tale of where we come from, educating kids about different types of conception such as IVF and sperm/egg donors and addressing various types of families and parents — narrated in an American accent for the U.S. release.
