Puberty and sex are tricky subjects that often no one really wants to teach soon-to-be teenagers. But how should children learn about these very important topics? From parents? Teachers? Books or Web sites?

In “Are Body and Sex Education Books for Parents, or Kids?”, KJ Dell’Antonia wonders whether boys and girls actually bother to read the informational books parents buy them.

“The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls” has just been updated and reissued, along with a companion book, “The Care and Keeping of You 2: The Body Book for Older Girls.”

The new books divide topics by age. The pediatrician Cara Natterson, who helped write the update, told the USA Today reporter Michelle Healy that younger girls are given more information about what’s happening to their bodies, while older girls get “why, and what can I do about it?” Neither book discusses about sex or drugs — the most controversial thing in the original “Care and Keeping” was a diagram of how to put in a tampon (now only in the “older” version). More than three million copies of the book have been sold since it was first published in 1998.

“Girls,” said Dr. Natterson, talking about the strong sales of the earlier edition, “read it.”

Do girls read it? And what’s more, do boys read the boy versions available? Or do the books sell because well-meaning parents buy them, while the pages go unturned?

Students: Tell us …

• How do you think children should be taught about puberty and sex?
• How did you first learn about puberty, body issues and sex?
• Do you think girls learn about these topics in different ways than boys? For example, are girls more likely to read informational books like the ones Ms. Dell’Antonia writes about?
• What responsibility do parents and schools have to make sure that children get accurate information?
• What advice would you give adults about how to approach these subjects with young people? Why?