A Really Short Journey Through the Body

An illustrated edition of the bestselling book about our incredible anatomy

By Bill Bryson adapted by Emma Young, illustrated by Daniel Long, Dawn Cooper, Jesús Sotés and Katie Ponder.
Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

Bill Bryson was born in America but now lives and works in England. His numerous books cover a multitude of non-fiction subjects. His books have garnered a wide audience because he is always very readable.

This book, adapted for younger readers by Emma Young is no exception.

It is a big hardback of 138 pages jampacked with information, anecdotes, diagrams, graphs and more. There is so much to learn here, all presented in accessible text with stylised illustrations that don’t overwhelm the reader.

There are over 50 topics covered including skin, DNA, organs, functions, senses, diseases, singing, allergies, pain, ageing and even death. It is filled with chatty entertaining stories such as Pepys’s bladder operation, St Martin’s stomach and what happened when that famous engineer Brunel accidentally swallowed a gold coin.

As well as basic facts such as ‘we have hair all over our bodies’, we learn some fun ones e.g. why horripilation happens (when your hair stands on end). My favourite new fact comes from the Belly Button Biodiversity Project (p 28): the number of bacterial species on each person’s belly button varies from about 29 to 107. I’m not sure how to work that into a conversation but I suspect a gleeful young reader will have no such reservations.

The publishers recommend it for younger readers and I would agree. Sometimes the terminology is overwhelming e.g. endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and mitochondria on one page about cells but the terms are explained and on the whole the content is very easy to understand.

This is an excellent reference tool as well a book to dip into and enjoy discovering more about your body. Recommended for home or school library.

Puffin 2024