Visually cartoonish, but very sensible, this book mixes the biology of the brain – that supercomputer we all have that is 73% water, on these data – with the psychology of training our amygdala to calm down a bit and let the 'upstairs brain' parse our lives a bit more than we do as an infant. It might not be the best choice that it mixes the two – the brain-training aspect up against the myelin sheath and all the other microscopic details – but I can't see the former being understood any the worse for the latter. And while this covers the gamut of "what it is" to "how to not let it get us down/in trouble/etc", it's not a pure self-help book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the National Center For Youth Issues for the ARC of this!

My seven year old found this informative and interesting. I liked the use of animals for the types of responses we have automatically to stress and danger.

Ms Jessica Sinarski has a Superb way of explaining neuroscience to young minds, provoking interest in science and brain function and educating them in how their brains work. Inspirational!

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

Although not the purpose of this book, it helped me explain my multiple sclerosis a lot easier.

I found Your Amazing Brain to be very straightforward and fairly easy to understand for such a complex organ. The learning tricks are great, and the illustrations are helpful and I have passed on thr title to friend's who teach middle years.

I will be using this book

🧠 The blurb states that this book “transforms complex neuroscience into fun graphics, simple metaphors, and practical solutions” and that is exactly what this book does.

🧠 This book will teach you a lot about the brain and how it works and controls your body. While the information presented uses a lot of big, scientific words like dendrites, myelin sheath, proprioception, vestibular, and amygdala, the explanations about how the brain works will be understandable and relatable to middle grade readers. The illustrations (by Luiz Fernando Da Silva) also greatly helps readers understand the information.

🧠 I love the concept of the upstairs brain (the cerebral part we use to think) and the downstairs brain (the part in charge of automatic responses) and how children can learn to utilize the upstairs brain more and more as they grow up.

🧠 I also appreciated the discussion about ways to take care of your brain – from exercise and eating right to creative endeavors and playing outside.

🧠 The book also includes a guide for teachers and parents on how to use the information in their classrooms or homes.

🧠 I highly recommend this informative book for classrooms or home schools.

Thank you @netgalley and National Center for Youth Issues for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This is a great book to help children learn all about the brain. It's written using technical words that are clearly explained and there are examples of what is being discussed. I really like the way the brain is described as 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' and that there are characters called 'downstairs brain protectors' that do exactly what they sound like they do! The pictures will help children to understand what is being discussed.

This book was so adorable, I loved everything about it, the illustrations were so well done, they suited the book perfectly, the story was amazing as well. I’m sure the kids are going to be just as enthralled with this amazing book as I was. I will definitely recommend! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

Very detailed book using illustrations to highlight the various parts of the brain and their functions. I appreciated that nothing was "dumbed down" for students favoring rich, descriptive vocabulary throughout the book. I think students will be drawn to the illustrations and descriptions of various parts of the brain. As an elementary educator, I might use pieces of this book to help explain brain functions to students, but I would be reluctant to use the book as a read aloud (too dense!). I would also definitely recommend this book to parents looking for something to share with their child.

This is a fun book that is educational about your brain and nervous system. This would actually be an awesome book for science classes - from grade 1 to high school. It is accessible and applicable to all learners and the images really help deliver the message and information. I would recommend this book for science teachers or homeschooling parents.

This superb book on the anatomy and functions of the brain is one of the most accessible physiology books we've read to date.

If your KS2 children are keen to learn more about how the 'grey matter' controls us, then they will love this. In all honesty, even if they aren't keen, they will still love it! Set out in graphic format with fun characters representing the functions and anatomical features, this guide takes the complex world of neuroscience and makes it understandable, interesting and fun.

It tackles the ways in which our subconscious brain can make us act in certain ways and whilst it is aimed at all children, it would act as a great starting point for explaining the way that the brain can differ in some people for example those with ADHD, and give them more self knowledge. It provides simple exercises to boost our brainpower and learn to control the way our brain can impact our behaviour (to stop it from getting us into trouble!).

We recommend this book for anyone age 7 - 70(+) with an interest in the 'whys' and the 'hows' .

Thank you NetGalley and National Center for Youth Issues for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

This is a fantastic little book that I have been enjoying reading with my 10 and 8 year old boys. It’s a great introduction to basic neuroscience and the social-emotional tidbits in there were a welcome surprise. I can see a lot of my kids behaviors in it and it has been a good way to gently show my kids what various behaviors look like and how to manage different thoughts and feelings. They absolutely loved the different characters and the art. The art in this book is really great.

Your Amazing Brain: The Epic Illustrated Guide is a nonfiction book with a graphic novel vibe. Focusing on the inner workings of the brain, this book uses an illustration-heavy approach to explain many scientific concepts. This ARC came at a great time for our homeschool, as we were wrapping up a human body unit. My first grader loved reading through this, though I think an age 8 and up audience would get more out of it. I highly recommend this book as a fun and approachable way to explain scientific concepts to kids!

Thank you to National Center for Youth Issues for gifting me with an ARC to review! My family enjoyed it.

I love this book! First the illustrations is lovely and detailed. Second, that's a good job for the author to make this book much simpler for kids to understand the basic function of brain. Third, I love how the authors slip some of tips for adult.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the eARC in exchange of my honest review.

Where was this book when my child did a in-depth project of the brain. They would have liked this much more than the books the library had at the time. They even had to use my mom's old college textbook. This book is much more fun and easy to understand.

This book offers a fun way to teach younger readers about the basics of how the brain works. The illustrations are engaging and will help readers better understand/visualize what the author is talking about. I especially liked the illustrations of the "closer look" at the brain parts. My other favorite part of the book was the explanation for how the upper and lower (upstairs/downstairs) parts of the brain work - I actually used the parts about the amygdala to help students understand why they have the initial reactions to stimuli that they do. I highly recommend this book for school and classroom (especially science) libraries. It can be used to supplement what is being taught and help all students better understand the concepts being introduced in class. This book also offers readers the opportunity to learn more about how their own brains work in some school-based events and hopefully will help them better understand why they react the way they do and what they can do in the future to get a different outcome.

Love this book! The illustrations are awesome! There is a ton of helpful information packed into this book! It communicates important and complex ideas in accessible ways for children. I think there is a great balance between using "science words" and more common everyday language.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for access to the digital version of this book!

Nicely done book for pre-teens about our brain, our old brain, our new brain, our amygdala, our emotions, and how to stay calm, cool, and collected. A wonderful and brightly illustrated guide to that which resides in our head, I found this book to be a refreshing guide to a "user's manual" to our complete brain. A good read, and eye opening, and especially useful.

This is a 5 star book in its field. It was very informative, with lots of outstanding artwork. It can easily grab a child's attention and will not confuse a child. I even learned a few things. It has tips for handling your instinctive reactions. If I were a doctor, therapist, or elementary to middle school librarian, I would stock this book. Also, it would be great for science teachers, particularly biology, teaching young kids. Parents could definitely get something out of reading this to their kids, too. Thank you @NetGalley and @National Center for Youth Issues for the DRC. I'm choosing to leave an honest and thought out opinion on this book.

The brain is amazing and this is a great book explaining how amazing it is. I think it is important for students to learn how their brain works. This book is informative and entertaining. I loved the format and will be adding the book to the schools shelves when it is published.

What an engaging and well put-togther book! If I was a child learning about the brain, this is how I would want to do it. I love the illustrations and the comic book layout. The author takes difficult concepts of neuroscience and makes them understandable to kids (and adults). I highly recommend for teachers, counselor, and parents who want to help kids understand more about their brain, and give them ways to regulate their big feelings.