Ross Recommends: Your Sense-ational Human Body by Emma Young
We've all heard it countless times before. Human beings have five senses: sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell. Our ability to navigate the world is largely dependent on this dynamic quintet taking in the, at times, overwhelming amount of external information we are exposed to on a daily basis and relaying that complex bundle of information to our brains for processing and translation into a comprehensible map of the world around us. However, with the help of this dazzling and brightly illustrated new book, Emma Young blows this five senses myth out of the water and presents us with page after page of the myriad of more subtle and underappreciated ways in which our bodies are able to sense both the world around us and our internal environments.
Starting with the very basics, needing to answer the call of nature, Young first effectively and engagingly introduces us to what a sense actually is, before launching an all-encompassing tour of the corporeal. We begin with my favourite page, or more accurately double page spread, on page ten. It is a map of the body with tags highlighting the 32 different types of senses we, as humans, are capable of experiencing and where in the body those sensations can be felt. The rest of the book then unfolds as we tread curiously, humorously and scientifically along and inside the body, exploring the hows and whys of those less discussed senses like pain, temperature, fullness, and proprioception (knowing where our limbs are without seeing them). Illustrations by John Devolle, in his characteristic clear, extremely colourful and cartoonish style, combine with Young's tangible enthusiasm to further the joy brought about by this book and bring these ways of experiencing to life. You can't help but become enraptured and awestruck by all the hidden work our bodies do!
This book is perfect for all our young humans who want to understand a bit more about their bodies and how they fit into the wider world around them. As you can tell, hopefully, from this blog, I love this book and it was this love that inspired me to select Your Sense-ational Human Body as our Children's Non-Fiction Book of the Month. Our new Children's Board in store displays a variety of fantastic new children's titles for ages 0 - 12, covering fiction, non-fiction, LGBTQ+ and dyslexic friendly titles. It is the perfect place to start for any child or parent unsure about what to read next.
To purchase this book please click here.