Bodies, Brains & Boogers, makes human health fun for ages 8 and up

Pick a page, any page from Bodies, Brains & Boogers and it’s something that will interest or intrigue ages eight and up. And, while you may not want to tell those ages this, they’ll also learn something from every page, yes, even you older middle school readers. Do you have Demodex, how much collagen is in your brain, how fast are synapses and so many more are questions that will be posed to elementary school students. The takeaway and question for parents, educators, and that wily eight-year-old audience is this, is Bodies, Brains & Boogers a book that they’ll want to read?

Desire is key in getting kids to read, much less being able to retain and share the knowledge that has been imparted. Our 11-year-old can read, but he likes to read about UFO sightings, Bigfoot, or any other supernatural conspiracy. If you ask him to read about something that’s going to cross his path in school, say the Emancipation Proclamation, the war of 1812, or famous inventors of the early 19^th century, then it’s more likely to be an uphill battle.

We’ve mentioned this on the YouTube channel when we review books. There is a stage where kids learn to read and then they read to learn. Some students immediately get that, while some have their heads spin like the square is never a rectangle, but a rectangle can sometimes be a square conundrum.

Bodies, Brains & Boogers, all you need to know about the gross, glorious human body, is custom made, tailor fit like an egg to a dozen egg carriers perfect for fourth grade and up. Literally, kids can turn to any page and be entertained. While the concept of kids being entertained while reading may seem alien to those youth that hasn’t experienced the happening, it does occur and it’s magical.

They’ll turn to a page, see the illustration and then read what’s happening. They might laugh out loud (but they’ll definitely grin), they’ll learn a little bit (but probably won’t tell you), and then turn to another page. There are chapters in Bodies, Brains & Boogers that are organized according to where they are or what they do. The skin, skeleton, brain, heart, lungs, and more all have a chapter devoted to the infinite number of complicated things that they do on a daily basis.

Those reluctant readers will turn to a random page, realize that the book is (gasp!) fun to read, and then devote themselves to effortlessly reading a chapter. This is a great way to enter the book because the chapters can be around 20 (gasp!) pages long. 20 pages to an eight-year-old is akin to a billion and a half pages in their world. However, factor in that most pages have illustrations, some of those take up the full page and the book is (I know, GASP!) fun to read and you’ll have kids who willingly and eagerly read Bodies, Brains & Boogers for leisure reading.

There is also a chapter devoted to poop. Specifically, it’s Gorgeous Guts, chapter 9 that deals with digestion. It’s scientific and educational, through the lens and presentation of funny illustrations and some gross humor. Kids love poop jokes, don’t they? This is the educational side of poop. For some students and kids, it will demystify the noises and smells that come from their bottoms. It’s just hydrogen sulfide that’s been forcibly excised from their anus, the smart kids will say. And when they say that, instead of smirking when someone farts you know that your job is done.

Bodies, Brains & Boogers, All you need to know about the gross, glorious human body is by Paul Ian Cross, PhD with illustrations by Steven Brown and available from Wellbeck Publishing.

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