This informative book is an enjoyable tour of what’s going inside our bodies.

Rosie Cooper kicks off with the brain showing us how our brains are under construction, because, as we learn, new neural pathways are made. We discover how are brains can be hijacked by emotions like fear, and learn some ideas and exercises to combat that. We explore what happens when we sleep and how we remember things.

There’s chapters on senses, our ‘excretion factory’ (sure to be a favourite!), how we are all different (some of us are sensory seeking, some of us are sensory avoidant), marvellous medicines, our evolving bodies to weird science.

The pages are busy and with lots of bright pops of short information mixed with slighter longer parts all loosely arranged across the pages. Harriet Russell’s illustrations are bright and silly and lead us around the pages, making absorbing what we are learning easy and enjoyable. The addition of some activities, such as understanding how long it takes corn that we eat to pass through our system (I know it’s gross) helps us learn through practical exercises.

The Brainiacs Book of the Body and Brain is not aiming to be an encyclopaedic type book about body parts, but rather navigates a more broad range of topics about how our body works, from farts, genes and how they can mutate, to disabilities and even more sensitive topics such as gender differences.

Good for learning how our body ticks!

Reviewed by Jane Stephens

Age Guide 7+

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rosie Cooper is a London-based researcher, originally from New Zealand. She is a podcast maven with a love of the great outdoors, extreme weather, and true-crime stories.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Harriet Russell is a London-based illustrator with an MA in illustration. She has written and illustrated five books for children and is the illustrator of the activity series This Book Thinks You’re a …

Visit Harriet Russell’s website