How to Build a Human: The Incredible Design of the Human Body (Tomorrow's World)

HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN is an in-depth look at the human body, including hormones, reproduction, organs, and skeletons. The book is divided into topics that go into a bit more detail on each of the elements that make up a human body. There are plenty of illustrations and interesting call-outs throughout that answer some questions young readers may have.

What I loved: This is a really approachable book that uses language kids can understand and get into. It covers topics that young readers may find particularly compelling, including all the bodily functions and potty talk they may enjoy (but with a scientific flair and informative humor).

The book uses a lot of different types of information design and activities (such as four facts and a fib games) to really engage readers and keep them reading more. The topics are well thought-out and cover pretty much anything you could think of. Other interesting topics were how painkillers work and why some people need glasses.

The book is also full of illustrations and colored sections that help to keep visual interest while reading. Due to some of the topics covered (such as reproduction spoken about in terms of cells and organs, but not details of intercourse), I would recommend this for older middle grade readers.

Final verdict: HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN is an engaging and entertaining look at the human body and all of the cool facts and details about how it works. Recommend for curious, older middle grade readers.

What worked:
The author uses several techniques to make the non-fiction information more palatable and approachable for young readers. The numerous, colorful illustrations are most obvious, but the backgrounds and text boxes are multi-colored too. Humor is an important part of text, making the information entertaining. Questions about the human body are often used as a bridge to relevant facts. Some pages include “Four Facts and a Fib” that create active reading instead of remaining passive. “Fun Facts” break up the narrative by sharing short, related information.
The book is surprisingly comprehensive. It begins by exploring what it means to be human and then addresses cells and pathogens, microscopic things found in the body. Other chapters describe the skeletal system (since we’re vertebrates) and then the brain and nervous system. It shares the various types of bones and even the different kinds of bone joints. There’s a section about the BCI, which enables humans with disabilities to recover some mobility they may have lost due to paralysis. There’s an explanation of how our sense of smell works, along with an amusing page titled “How to Safely Remove a Booger”. The book covers everything readers expect, such as the heart, lungs, and liver, and less obvious topics kids might find interesting. Poop, pee, blushing, and sweating are natural bodily functions, so the book talks about them. Young readers are aware of reproduction, allergies, and diseases, and these subjects are covered toward the end.
What didn’t work as well:
The book contains loads of information and facts, but readers will be challenged to find specific topics. There isn’t an index at the back, so readers doing research will need to use context, skimming, and scanning to locate needed pages. Most chapters have creative titles, so the relevant pages may not be obvious. The heart, blood, and platelets are in the chapter “Let’s Plug in the Heart”, and “The Finishing Touches” covers skin, hair, and fingernails.
The final verdict:
It’s always effective when an author makes nonfiction entertaining, so upper middle-grade readers will have fun while they’re learning. This book can be used for research or for short periods of reading amusement. Overall, I recommend you give this book a shot!