It seems like a lifetime ago that I was involved in this book (sometime in the early 1980s). I worked freelance for a book packager at the time. They would put a concept together and see if if they could get a publisher interested. The book concept would be sold before it had been fully written or illustrated. I would be involved in the design and concept stages and then, quite often, nothing would transpire.
This book was one such. It was written tongue-in-cheek (feel free to make up your own innuendos) and most of the illustrations of teddy bears and other soft toys were conceived immaculately by Colin Rowe. All the teddy bears would nowadays be offered trauma counselling, but back then they just had to get on with it.
How to do Sex Properly was a one-season wonder. It sold well I think, but soon disappeared from sight. Wind forward to the new millennium and it reappeared on Amazon – with excellent reviews. Soon after publication I received a letter from a Health Authority complimenting us on such a straightforward approach to sex education – this was never the intention. I don’t even own a copy now, but I know people who do.
