Do you know how you would explain a broken leg to a 3-year-old? Confronted with this question myself not long ago, I thought about the complexity of the insides of our bodies. How do we even start to describe all the parts of us that make us whole?!
Good thing we have books on our side!
Curious kids, celebrate; I have just a book for you! Inside Animals is a FANTASTIC book to read to learn all about how animals’ insides work to make the animals’ outsides so cool!
From snakes to cows to bees to giraffes (my favorite), this book illustrates the moving parts, unique features, and sometimes even stomach contents of our favorite animal friends*. Each animal page has a brief blurb about the featured animal. The illustrations of the animal spread across two pages and short pieces of information accompany the illustrations of each animal.
After every three animals, there is a two-page spread of a topic, like “muscles and moving” with several animals and facts that connect to that topic. Great for quick information about one type of body process!
The book concludes with a Glossary for those less than familiar concepts that might come up, like what an “enzyme” is or what it means to be “warm-blooded.” Following the Glossary is an index, great for finding all the pages that talk about teeth, for example, for those focusing on finding out a particular body part.
Author Barbara Taylor knows just how to put interesting facts into concise sentences that explain, in just a few words, a complex concept.
Taylor is an author of or contributor to great non-fiction books. Some recent titles include:
- The Magnificent Book of Extinct Animals
- The Big Book of Birds (contributor to some titles in the Big Book series)
Where this book really shines is the vivid illustrations by Margaux Carpentier. With bright colors and simplified versions of the animals’ insides, Carpentier turns a ghastly subject into a delightfully vibrant, easily readable, info-tainment.
If you are interested in animals or interested in finding out all the gritty details of how things work, this book is for you!
Julia Cantrell, Youth Librarian, Peggy Helmerich Library
*also in some cases, poop.