The Complete Guide To Human Reproduction (temporary name) by Noa Katz

 

This is a book about reproduction that you have never read before.

I wanted to make a progressive book about reproduction and sexuality. Every book regarding these subjects in my country (Israel) are very out of date- straight from the '80s. There are so many ways other than the "normal" way to bring a baby to this world.

I wanted to include the excluded communities- the experiences of single parents, and the LGBTQ+ folk; as well as explain about IVF, sperm banks, egg donations, surrogacy, and many other interesting subjects.

 

As a woman and a lesbian author, I feel like it's my mission to give my point of view on subjects that are usually written by males.

I got a wonderful medical editor and an army of beta readers ready to go, in order to make this book as medically accurate as possible.

 

Pages: 185

Target audience: Pre-teen to full grown adults

Or whenever a parent feels ready to talk about it with their children

 

 

Table of contents

 

The female reproductive system

The menstrual cycle

Menopause

Endometriosis

The male reproductive system

Undescended testicle

Nocturnal emission

Erection

Erectile Dysfunction

intercourse

Human Papilloma Virus

Birth control

Vasectomy

The journey of the sperm cell to the egg

Fertilization

abortion

Miscarriage

identical twins

Non-identical twins

Infertility

Polycystic ovaries

IVF

egg donation

Sperm donation

Surrogacy

SPAR

Shared parenting

adoption

The pregnancy

The birth
 

I didn’t want a fourth wall in this book, all of the characters know that they are working on a book about sexuality and reproduction by Noa Katz. This creates an alternate universe where I (the narrator and author) can do anything I want. More than anything, I set a stage to implore the audience to join me in my enjoyment while I make fun of myself as an artist and person.

The scenes take place in an apartment in Tel-Aviv, on a low-budget movie set (low-budget because I'm a cartoonist, and I have no money... obviously).

However, we somehow managed to afford cameras and costumes, and we are ready to go.

 

The hormones are portrayed by cats because cats are available and cheap, and this is a low-budget production. Also, I must say that I'm a cat person and cats make me happy so I thought, "hey why not? It's my book I can do whatever I want!"

 

 

THE ACTORS

 

Shiran is a struggling actress, fresh out of the academy, just waiting for an opportunity.

At the beginning of the book, Shiran is disappointed to find herself playing a sperm, but as we go along the book, she also gets to act as a banana, a testicle, and various important roles as well as the role of herself.

 

Ligal knows Shiran from school, but Ligal is a more successful and more experienced actress and has worked with the author Noa Katz before on her previous book.

Because of her experience, Ligal gets more roles in the book, such as sperm, testicle, half of a zygote, the main role in the abortion chapter, and the most important role in the book - the pregnant woman, and of course the role of herself.

 

 Tzvika is the main male actor in the book. He gets to play the egg, the white blood cell, the other half of the zygote as well as the role of the baby's father. He also explains the male side of things and birth control.

 

Revivo is an extra - a guy from the street that I needed for the role of another egg in the chapter on twins, plus some other minor roles in the book. His main purpose is to be Tzvika's love interest.

Revivo owns a potato pancake (latkes) stand in the park and is just a really nice guy in general.

 

 

Sitvanit is a 12-year-old girl, her main role is “the girl in the menstrual cycle chapter.” Sitvanit is getting her first period and needs some answers!

She is a precocious pre-teen that asks a lot of questions, qualities that are extremely helpful in an informative book. Sitvanit also plays the role of the defective sperm, and the defective egg. As a side note, she is very talented in Judo. 

“The Twins” play the main in the Twins chapter. In addition, 

Twin #1 is playing the role of the adolescent male, burgeoning on puberty and getting information about the changes he’s experiencing. Twin #2 gets to be Sitvanit’s boyfriend for a little bit.

 

The sweetest character (in my opinion) is me! Noa Katz, the author of the book. My job is to keep everyone on track and give them support and feedback.

I'm also explaining a lot of stuff and have roles as sperm, penis, egg and many more.

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I take pride in the fact that every character in this book has a little side story and a personality that anyone can relate to.  I also believe that anyone and everyone will be able to like appreciate the characters’ dynamic as a group.

I worked on this book alone in my home office during the pandemic- it was lonely but I felt like this cast was with me throughout the way.

 

About the author

Noa Katz is an Israeli cartoonist based in Tel-Aviv.

She is 30 years young and has published four comic books, 

"the reproduction book" will be her fifth book.

All of her books were published in Israel, and she can't wait to publish abroad!

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