"[1] American Girl founder Pleasant Rowland had the initial idea after reading a newspaper article about early onset puberty while on an airplane.

She tore the article out and left a sticky note on it addressed to the book's eventual editor Michelle Watkins, which read "WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NOW".

"[3] The company conducted focus groups, and found that preteen girls often wanted to know about subjects such as when to begin wearing bras and how to look after their physical health.

The first volume includes more diverse illustrations, and omits the controversial tampon diagram in favor of information about menstrual pads which are more widely used by younger people.

[2] This edition of the book also omitted information about eating disorders and other subjects that might be upsetting to young girls, and reserved this content for The Care and Keeping of You 2.

[14] Kirkus Reviews noted that it was a good alternative to books such as Robie Harris' It's So Amazing, which include information about sexual topics that some parents may feel uncomfortable with.

It discusses the physical, social and emotional changes that boys may experience during puberty, as well as general hygiene and health issues commonly encountered during adolescence.

[1] Allison Pohle, in an article for The Atlantic, described it as "a formative book for many Millennial women who were in the target audience when it was first published, and for younger generations of girls.

"[2] Lauren Rearick of Nylon noted that it was published at a time when many girls did not have easy access to information about health or sex education.

[4][8] Rachelle Hampton of Slate criticized the decision to omit information about sexuality from the book, and felt that its discussion of teenage anxieties about body weight and appearance was overly negative.

[8] Darienne Stewart of Common Sense Media gave the book five out of five stars, and highlighted its positive language, informativeness, and appealing illustrations.

"[19] Leah Campbell, writing for the website Scary Mommy, felt that the book contained expectations of heteronormativity and concern over body weight, and was no longer the best option for teaching young children about puberty.