This is a collaborative post with Puffin. We were sent a copy of Kay’s Anatomy and the Fact Sheets bedsheets for this review, may contain affiliate links
If, like me, you have children of a certain age you will know they reserve their “difficult” questions for bedtime
Big L (9) has become an expert at playing for time. It starts as “can you come up to say goodnight” after he has finished reading and goes on for glasses of water, general worries about the state of the world and, well, bodily functions.
Big L – disgusted of Sevenoaks!
Now, I’m no stranger to discussing bodily functions, as you may know I have Crohn’s disease
Most of you will be aware, that one of the main symptoms of Crohn’s disease is pooing. Pooing a lot. I have written a fair bit about living and parenting with Crohn’s and I don’t shy away from discussing it openly; like that time I nearly soiled my pants in Sainsbury’s – I have actually soiled them more than once but they are stories for another day. I discuss this and am open about my operations with both you lot and my family. I certainly don’t want them to think that bodily functions or excretions are taboo, even if they are pretty disgusting.
The problem is I don’t have all the answers to Big L’s questions: “Will I die if…?” “Can I eat…?” “How long can a … get?” I don’t know kid, ask again in the morning.
Big L – shocked (I hope it isn’t chapter 12)
Well now Dr Adam Kay has written the answers to all those tricky questions in a book:
Kay’s Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body
You may know Adam Kay from his bestselling book This is Going to Hurt, which is aimed at adults (probably best you don’t get the two confused and give it to your kids). Well, he has turned his attention to educating our children about anatomy in a fun and informative way.
The book itself is crammed full of facts and fun illustrations by Henry Paker. If your children are fans of the comic book style of book this hits that spot. Plus it’s funny, oh so funny! Big L loves tongue in cheek, crude, rude humour (I’m not sure where he gets it from, it certainly isn’t me *whistles*)
Big L found the hairy man particularly hilarious
Kay’s Anatomy is a great book to share at bedtime
It’s been a long time since I was at school, a loooong time, and I have forgotten a lot of the biology I was taught. I got a two Bs at GCSE for science so I can’t have been that bad however my brain has been addled by various things over the *cough* years. That’s where Kay’s Anatomy comes in.
Kay’s Anatomy is split into chapters with each chapter tackling a different part of your body or subject
Starting with Skin and ending with Germs. We are yet to read chapter 12: Reproduction, our children currently think it’s monsters going bump in the night, I’m not sure how they’d handle finding out it’s actually their parents.
For quick reference there is an index at the back, this is great if “it’s well past your bedtime” and a difficult question is posed like “are bogeys safe to eat?” just look up bogeys (for quick reference it’s page 191) and you will read that, actually, eating bogeys won’t do you any harm *phew* oh don’t look at me like that.
What were our thoughts about Kay’s Anatomy?
Well, I will be recommending it to our school friends. Honestly, it is a must read for boys and girls in Key Stage 2. Big L loved how it was written, the illustrations and the sense of humour that runs throughout the book. It will pose questions so be prepared to answer them honestly and if you don’t learn something, unless you are a doctor yourself, I’d be very surprised!
Kay’s Anatomy is a book that will be picked up again and again and I’m sure it will be passed down to Little L when the time is right.
Kay’s Anatomy has a RRP of £14.99 and is available from all good bookshops and Amazon (affiliate link) where is is currently on offer at £7.99
To be in with a chance to win your very own Fact Sheets pop over to Puffin Books on Facebook as they will be giving a set away
 Guide to Human Anatomy for Kids (AD)){kind=link}