Penguin Australia September 2020

ISBN: 9781760896744

Imprint: Puffin

RRP: $24.99

As it happens the Kid is looking at the human body for the science component of her home schooling this term. Of course, as the diligent teacher-librarian/gran that I am, I have organised a lot of useful resources for her – none of which will be anywhere near as gross or fascinating as George’s new survival guide! In fact, the day it arrived, she picked it up and there were many gasps and groans as she flicked through it – a pretty fair indication that all your kiddos who delight in the gruesome and ghastly will love it :-).

Sections such as Red Spurty Stuff, Pooping it Out and Dead Stuff will likely be the first that readers dip into (for want of a better expression) and the gross-o-meter throughout will aid them in their reactions. Fact boxes, extracts from articles, images and diagrams galore all help put together a thoroughly disgusting journey through the body and it’s mysterious workings.

There is a particularly welcome section on body image which will empower young readers to view themselves positively and the book’s conclusion has a useful glossary plus some excellent further reading links.

It is definitely a book that will take some time to work through as the readers pore over each fact, article, diagram, table, illustration and more.

Any kiddos from around ten years upwards will enjoy this one and obviously, it will be featured on the Kid’s reading list for this term. I feel confident she will ferret out the most odious of facts to share with me.

George is one of those amazing authors who can skillfully turn his hand to adept and engaging writing across many genres. The fact that he is just a tiny bit crazy (eccentric?) is a bonus [thought you’d like that addition, George!]. He is also one of the most fun people I’ve ever met :-).

Don’t miss out on George’s mad scientist/not-a-real-doctor videos and check out his Q&A with Better Reading here.

Highly recommended for your readers from middle primary to middle secondary.