Inside: Why this bestselling human body book for kids is a must-read for all.
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Merriam Webster defines giddy as joyfully elated and lightheartedly silly.
And that's just how I felt flipping through my pre-ordered copy of the brand-new, bestselling book, The How and Wow of the Human Body. I felt joyfully elated at the content (especially the section on poop and potty training!) and the entire book is lightheartedly silly to keep kids and grownups engaged.
Yep, I'm giddy. This body book for kids is a serious wow.
This human body book for kids is written by Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz. Or in our house, we know her as Absolutely Mindy, because my kids have been hooked on her Kids Place Live show for years.
The reason we pre-ordered this children's human body book had everything to do with being superfans of Mindy and her work. What I didn't expect was how positively awesome this children's human body encyclopedia would be (for the whole family!) The cute illustrations make this book about anatomy and the human body (192-pages long!) read like a graphic novel.
The fun facts in this human body book tap into something kids love: weird wows.
As to why I'm devoting an entire blog post to a human body book for kids, let's start with the reason many of you found me...the poop, the pee, and the potty.
Mindy and Guy packed their human body book of wows with so many cool facts and ways of understanding the human body.
Take the section on digestion.
There's a fantastic illustration and explanation of the Bristol poop chart.
As a potty training consultant, this brings me joy!
Fun fact from my work: One of the first questions I ask parents who I'm working with is... what their child's poop looks like on the Bristol poop chart. And sometimes parents don't know the answer. Or think that type 2 poop is okay (it's not, that's constipated poop!). So while a toddler won't be able to read this human body book, I'm hoping it gets into the hands of more grownups and kids for read-alouds to spread the word of how poop should (and should not) look.
We all need to know what healthy poop looks like!
As Mindy and Guy share in their human body book for kids, if you're seeing type 1 or type 2 poop:
You're doing the Constipation Conga.
And you'll find a fantastic illustrated breakdown of the Bristol Poop chart in this children's body book.
It's so important for kids to know what healthy poop looks like and when poop points to something being off in your body.
Even if you're with your child 24/7 right now, at some point these small humans will be going off into the world, pooping in other potties with other caregivers, (for example, needing to go poop at daycare or preschool), and you want them to be aware (and able to report back) if their poop is a grade A poop or not.
The handy poop chart you'll find in this human body book for kids gives you a conversation starter to talk to your kid about what's a good poop.
Here's a little behind-the-scenes of my work as a potty training consultant. I'm always on the lookout for good books to help kids (and grownups) in the potty training process. For little ones, these are my picks for picture books on the human body and this is still my favorite book about poop.
But, I also stumble upon so many picture books that talk about poop as this thing you can do for a reward. Sit. poop. reward.
When pooping doesn't work that way, physically in our bodies, so many kids can get stuck if that's the expectation. Why?
You can't poop if you're not relaxed!
So what does help a child poop? Getting in the right poop position, among other tips that help see a good poop in the potty. Mindy and Guy share tips to get your body in the best anatomical position to poop.
You need to be in a squat to poop!
(Get those stepstools out!)
The illustrations are spot on to what I see in my work as a potty training consultant.
Look to see if your child is sitting on the toilet with feet dangling — that's not a good poop position.
There are about 50,000 other reasons I love this book for learning about the human body with your kid (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you will learn a fun fact related to that number and poop in the book!)
For example, the section on gas shares so many wind-breaking ways to talk about what happens with the farts.
(For a toddler book on farts, check out one of my favorite picture books, The Gas We Pass).
Here's another thing to remember with the human body and our role as parents.
There's not a magic age where kids one day understand how their body works and how to take care of their body. This is work that's an ongoing conversation from when they're little. In the podcast, Talking About the Hard Stuff, Jamie Glowacki (bestselling author of Oh Crap I Have A Toddler), shares why you want to use the real names for body parts with your toddlers and avoid talking about the human body through the lens of shame.
I see this human body book for kids by Mindy and Guy as a helpful guide to make chitchats about our bodies be natural, cool, and dare I say, easy? It's actually incredible how our body works and functions.
And the fun doesn't end there!
In case if you're not (yet) a Mindy superfan, as we are in this house, you may not know that Mindy hosts one of the best kids podcasts, Wow in the World with Guy Raz. Not only do my kids learn SO much from this hilariously funny podcast, but it's my secret weapon for long car rides (in addition to Audible Kids that I shared in my travel post for potty training toddlers.)
We also have Mindy and Guy's first book Two Whats and a Wow, which is the perfect trivia book for dinner chats if you're looking to stump your kid and spark some giggles.
So there you have it. The how and why of being giddy, or bonkerballs as Mindy would say, about a human body book for kids!
