The Human Body for Kids

The book

Right now, without any effort on your part, your heart is pushing blood through roughly 60,000 miles of vessels, your lungs are pulling oxygen out of thin air, and somewhere close to 37 trillion cells are quietly doing their jobs to keep you upright and thinking. Sarah Whitman takes readers on a six-chapter tour of the body they already carry around, using real numbers, clever comparisons, and hands-on experiments to make the science feel as close as a pulse. Each chapter closes with an experiment you can run at home using nothing more than your own body and a little time to pay attention.

What you'll learn

• Why your body is built from 37 trillion cells and what those cells actually spend their time doing
• How bones and muscles work together so that standing, running, and catching a ball are possible at all
• How your heart moves blood through a network long enough to circle the Earth more than twice in a single day
• What the diaphragm is and why it is the muscle most responsible for every breath you take
• The surprisingly long path a sandwich travels through your body — and what your intestines would measure if you stretched them out
• How the brain stores memories, sends signals to every corner of your body, and keeps working even while you sleep

Who it's for

This book is for curious readers aged 8 to 12 who have ever wondered why their heart pounds after a sprint, what a hiccup actually is, or how a bruise forms. It is the kind of book to reach for after a doctor's visit, a biology class that raised more questions than it answered, or simply a quiet afternoon when the question how does any of this work? feels too good to leave alone.