50 Body Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Ross Kinniard (Annick Press, February 2014) is a visually appealing book about the human body. As the title indicates, 50 questions take readers on a journey through the body, covering concepts about the digestive system, blood, muscles and bones, germs, the brain, and the nervous system. The tone is lighthearted, and the amusing illustrations give it yet another boost of entertainment. This is a nonfiction book kids like to read! The questions are not straight-forward ones. Instead, they have a silly tone to introduce a concept about the human body. By reading them, you can get an idea what the explanations will be about, but in reality this is a trivia book, and the questions that format the book are only that: the format in which trivia is presented.
This is still a good thing. My son loves gross facts about the human body so he will truly love coming across questions like “Can you turn your pepperoni into poo?” and “How did pirates perish?”
Further, I enjoyed how the book covered both the science of how our bodies work as well the history of how things have been discovered and developed over the past centuries. It may be full of trivial fact about the body, but it does also teach the important things.
I hope to read more in the series of “50 Questions” at some point, because it is an amusing approach to learning, and one I’ll bet my son will enjoy.
Digital review copy.
