How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down

How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down by Idan Ben-Barak, illustrated by Zahra Zainal (Scholastic) HB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781761121371

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down is a fun nonfiction picture book that explores the human senses. A nameless young girl introduces us to the concept of ‘nerves’ and how they tell the brain what is happening in us, on us and, outside us. The book then explores the five basic senses that children may be familiar with - sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Next, it delves into how other sensory receptors and organs, like the inner ear, pain receptors, and the bladder, also send messages to the brain. The book concludes with some fun facts about different animals and their unique senses.

The main text is complemented by full-colour illustrations, labelled diagrams, and speech bubbles to help a young audience understand these concepts. The text/labels incorporate some Tier 3 vocabulary, including optic nerve, auditory nerve, receptors, and molecules.

This book is suitable for an audience aged 4 years and older who enjoy learning about how the body works.

How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down

How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down (And other things my body knows) by Idan Ben-Barak and Zahra Zainal (Scholastic Australia) HB RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9781761121371

Reviewed by Kellie Nissen

Our bodies are amazing things when we think about it. How do they do what they do? How do we know where are arms are? Why do we feel pain if we touch something hot? Why do we get dizzy if we spin around and around and around?

As we grow, we take a lot of these things for granted – they just happen. It’s something to do with our brains sending and receiving messages, but how does it really work?

There are so many questions!

Up until now, the answers have seemed too technical, too medical and certainly too confusing to be able to explain to a child (or an adult without medical background) but this delightful and insightful book by Idan Ben-Barak and Zahra Zainal is going to solve this issue.

Written for children aged between four and eight, How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down (And other things my body knows) answers all those tricky questions young children like to ask about their bodies in a way that is accessible and satisfying.

It all starts with the nerves that are found everywhere in our bodies.

As children read through the book, they’ll discover that when air waves enter our ears, they move the tiny hairs there – which is how we hear. Then they’ll find out that the nerves in our skin can tell whether something is soft or hard, and the nerves in our muscles can tell if we’re relaxed or holding something heavy.

If that’s not enough – readers can also find out about things other bodies (like those belonging to different animals) know.

With easy-to-understand text, and colourful, detailed illustrations, How Do I Know If I’m Upside Down (And other things my body knows) will answer all our questions – and probably inspire more. (Gee … I hope there’s a sequel to this book!) 

Your Brain is a Lump of Goo

Your Brain is a Lump of Goo by Idan Ben-Barak & Christopher Nielsen (Allen & Unwin) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781761180156

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

How do you explain the appearance and workings of the brain to a small child? Ben- Barak, in this picture book for children aged 5 to 8 years, likens the brain’s size to that of a pineapple, and its texture that of goo that looks like a big walnut (but gooey). Accompanied by cartoon illustrations of the brain’s owner, a small girl wearing a helmet and doing things like riding a scooter and walking a pineapple, the text continues… It explains ‘I’m made of hundreds of billions of cells. They’re all connected. They send signals to each other.’ Saying it’s ‘very complicated’, the text states ‘I’m the part of you that is YOU.’

In the middle of the book is what looks like four scoops of ice-cream made of orange, blue, and pink colours (representing the brain). Surrounding it are dozens of words and phrases pertaining to the brain, such as ‘Emotions’, ‘Sibling Annoyance Centre’, ‘Happiness’, ‘Growing,’ and ‘Thoughts.’ 

There is more information on the workings of the brain, including how it can sometimes get confused, distracted, or overwhelmed. The text continues: ‘Look, I’m not a computer. Nobody planned me. Nobody built me. It took me many millions of years to become what I am.’ It proceeds with what the brain is capable of, such as teaching the lungs to breathe, the legs to walk, and so on. None of what the brain can do, it says ‘doesn’t happen with pineapples.’

The book concludes with a double page spread of information about the actual workings of the brain, the sort of text which needs to be read by an adult, perhaps to a child to explain the parts -- and purposes of those parts, of the brain. This includes words familiar to an adult, such as ‘cerebellum’, ‘cerebrum,’ ‘occipital lobe’, and ‘hypothalamus.

It's difficult to imagine that this book would be a favourite of children but it's at least a valiant attempt by a writer and illustrator to capture the essence of the body's most mysterious organ to a youngster.