Every Thursday, during the month of October, join Aly at Kid Lit Frenzy, Franki & Mary Lee of A Year of Reading, and Tammy & Clare from Assessment in Perspective as we celebrate graphic novels and comic books. To read our Top 10 reasons to join in, check out the Nerdy Book Club post, here. To link up your reviews and connect with everyone participating in the #GNCelebration, visit our #GNCelebration Google Community.
For my first #GNCelebration, I start with a nonfiction graphic novel from First Second:
Human Body Theater: The All-Singing, All-Dancing Anatony Extravaganza!
by Maris Wicks
First Second (October 6, 2015)
Audience: Ages 10-14
Nonfiction * Graphic Novel * Human Body
Indiebound | WorldCat
Description from GoodReads:
Welcome to the Human Body Theater, where your master of ceremonies is going to lead you through a theatrical revue of each and every biological system of the human body! Starting out as a skeleton, the MC puts on a new layer of her costume (her body) with each "act." By turns goofy and intensely informative, the Human Body Theater is always accessible and always entertaining.
Maris Wicks is a biology nerd, and by the time you've read this book, you will be too! Harnessing her passion for science (and her background as a science educator for elementary and middle-school students), she has created a comics-format introduction to the human body that will make an expert of any reader -- young or old!
Thoughts on this book by KK, age 9 with a little help from her aunt (that would be me):
Finding books that engage, inform and yes, entertain kids can be a challenge at times. So when I was watching the 9 year old the other night I decided to give it a shot and see if she would read THE HUMAN BODY THEATER. Knowing how much she loves graphic novels I had high hopes for this one. Yet, she was in a bit of a funk. Her initial response, "Set the timer for 20 minutes please." I did as I was asked but hoping she would read for longer.
As I heard her giggling through the book, I figured we had a winner. When the timer went off, she decided to just keep reading until she finished. When she was finished, I asked her what she thought of the book.
Here is her initial response that I posted on Facebook:
Several nights later, I asked her again what she thought of the book.
KK: I loved that book. (Always good that nearly a week later the memory of reading the book is positive.)
Me: So, what did you like?
KK: I liked the bones, how they can bend and move. I also liked the skeleton and how the skeleton had different costumes. I also liked the flesh, and oh, those...colorful balls.
Me: Colorful balls? Do you mean atoms and molecules.
KK: Yeah, that stuff.
KK's mom (from the other part of the room): Now, I know why she was asking about flesh and bones.
Some of the great interior shots from this book.
Me: Would you read this book again?
KK: Yes, I would read it again. (And again, and again, and again knowing her.)
Me: Would you recommend this book to anyone?
KK: Yes, I would recommend it to anyone who would like to learn about the human body and its system.
Pick up a copy of The Human Body Theater at your local indie bookstore or public library.
Don't forget to join us:
On November 1, 2015 at 8:00 EST, we will culminate this celebration with a Twitter Chat featuring Terry Thompson the author of Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension, 2-6.