Kay's Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body

This book caused laughter in my house, a LOT of laughter.The illustrations are funny. The text is funny. The repeated gags are funny (poor maths teachers...).And whilst you are laughing, you will be learning.Adam takes the hugely complex subject of the human body, makes it accessible to an eight-to-twelve-year-old, sprinkles in some humour (finds the humour that's already there!) and serves it up for our enjoyment. Parts of it are suitable for sharing with younger children - but, personally, I would read it first and then make it available to them as they need it.For example, my six-year-old enjoyed the chapter on Germs - and has finally laughed about washing her hands (having spent the last fifteen months terrified of catching coronavirus from the bugs on her hands).There are chapters on: Skin, Heart, Lungs, Brain, Hair and Nails, Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose, Bones, Muscles, Gut, Kidneys and Liver, Reproduction, Life and Death, and Germs (which my youngest pointed out includes coronavirus).Each chapter is 20-40 pages long, depending on the subject to be covered, and there is a 'True or Poo' section preceded by a section called 'Kay's Kwestions' (I really hope that key gets replaced quickly!) full of those questions you may have always wondered: If my blood is red, then why are my veins blue? Are bogeys safe to eat? Why do I get pins and needles? Why do I fart more on planes? How much water should I drink in a day? What is a decibel? and What's the point of my belly button?There are another 30 pages at the back for acknowledgements, appendix, glossary, index, further information and credits. Adam is a doctor himself, and has not shied away from asking his colleagues to contribute their expertise; in places, he directly quotes them, which enriches the book.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some people may be concerned that this book covers everything that is currently taught to children in state schools in the UK at KS2 and KS3. You may be concerned that your eight-year-old shouldn't be exposed to the exact same information as the sixteen-year-old next door.Excellent. You are doing your job as a parent well if you are concerned for your child's welfare. 👍 Only you can can decide what you are happy for them to know at what age. [Financially, this is also an advantage. After all, if you are going to wait to get this book because of 30 pages of content, you can nab it when the price is lowest. Savvy as well as caring - your child lucked out on parents. 😁]Here are two other thoughts to consider on the subject:When your child hears something random in the playground ("if you unscrew your belly button, your bum falls off" or "you can get pregnant by holding hands" to quote but two), would you like to be able to hand them a book and have a doctor explain it all, complete with correct* anatomical and medical terms?Biology, PHSE and Citizenship lessons at secondary school devote a chunk of their time to quashing the misconceptions that are playground rumours. Every year, this comes too late for a handful of teen girls who fall pregnant ("you can't if it's your first time"). Wouldn't it be awesome if YOUR child was able to set those playground rumours straight ahead of time?[And the time saved in lessons could be spent on topics such as how to build a safe and healthy relationship with someone. Which might even save your child's classmate's life - over half of female adult deaths in the UK are at the hand of their partner/ex, and over a quarter of all adults suffer abuse within a relationship.]As I said, you are best placed to make decisions for your own family. I am sure you can and will do your best by your children. If it helps any, things she didn't need to understand yet went straight over my nine-year-old's head (she is the one who divulges the playground rumours to me...).*Teachers started using this terminology in schools for PHSE so that there would be less room for confusion.For example, the way you interpret the sentence 'Willy and Minnie met and had a special hug.' depends a bit on where you are coming from.It could be an imaginative comment on what happened when a famous whale took a contemporary trip to Disneyland - normal hugs not being allowed at the moment.Or not.Sometimes, using correct terminology is freeing.

Got this for our 10 year old. She absolutely loves it!! Happy to read and read this book, it’s also pretty funny. Highly recommend

My niece loves this book!

Bought for an 11 year old boy (I had loved Kay’s adult books) who read it immediately, loved it, feels he has learnt loads (‘oh yes, definitely’ when I asked) without ‘learning’ it as it was such a fun book to read. He is answering question correctly about the body in conversations that he has learnt from this book, and keeps telling me about fun things in the book, jokes and cartoons. He loved the humour and wit, and found it easy to understand the workings of the body. He is an excellent reader but rated the reading difficulty as moderate as there are some long words. I suppose a less able reader would just need a little help with these, and it would be a fun book to read to a child. My son reckons it would be ok from about age 9. But get it, you won’t regret it, especially for children that like yucky stuff. All of them then.

With its many and cheerful references to poos and farting I would imagine this book will be a major hit with its target audience of kids. As I am not a kid I found that a little tiresome after a while (I would have loved it aged 9!), but it is extremely engaging and full of accurate information presented in a way that will make the most science-averse child interested and eager to learn (without noticing that they are learning...)I should think most adults would learn a lot too - I bought it partly because I love Peter Kay's NHS books, and partly to help me ask better questions when working in my NHS Theatre. I didn't actually learn much new stuff, but it did help me put into context some random bits of knowledge.Actually, it's not really fair that I knocked a star off for the constant fart references - the intended age group will adore it.

Saw the author on This Morning and thought I’d come here to check it out. The topics are really good and perfect for my 12 year old. They’re written in a humorous way, and the illustrations are hilarious. Even for an adult.There is one section on reproduction so be warned. It’s written in a funny way without taking away the seriousness of a topic like that. There is a cartoon drawing of a male and female’s trouser bits ;) but if you’ve got a kid over 8 then they’ll learn stuff like this at school anyway so it’s fine. My 12 year old lad has been home educated for a few years so I’ve only just started teaching him about the birds and the bees and all that embarrassing stuff. Somehow he knew more than me, so it’s time I checked his iPad’s search history I reckon.On a serious note; it’s a great book in hard back format and I can’t wait to let him learn loads whilst having a good ole chuckle at this.If the author is reading this review then well done to you and your illustrator for nailing this. It’s a purchase I definitely don’t regret making

Amazing!! My 11 year old daughter has been a bookworm since a very young age, but the past 12 months has been hell trying to get her absorbed into a good book again. I thought she was never going to be engrossed in a book again.....until she discovered Kay's Anatomy!!! She literally can't put it down. I hear little squeals of laughter every few minutes and she can't wait to tell me little snippets of information that she has just read. Pitched perfectly for KS2 kids, Interesting, gross, informative, educational and hilarious!!! What more could a kid want?! Ignore the reviews that this isn't suitable for children, this book is a godsend for any parent that wants their child to continue/discover a love of reading and to teach them about how our bodies work, including the "birds and the bees"!! They are going to learn about it at some point, it might as well be in a light hearted, humorous and engaging way. I honestly wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.