This is a comprehensive book for children, which contains a lot of information about the brain and how it works. The book is amazing and it has awesome graphics. The cat which talks is superb and it is really funny. Although I already knew most of the information in the book, it was a nice refresher for me and it is a book that I will read to my daughter when she is a bit older. I highly recommend this book, which would be a great addition to any classroom, home or library.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Creativity, balance, language and emotion. Just four of the many jobs are Great Big Brains do. In this fantastic little book, children are introduced to the wonderful organ that is their brain. With bright pictures and informative sections, children can learn all about their brain and a little about how it works. This book also sensitively introduces some of the things that can go wrong with brains, which would be something to be mindful of if using in the classroom. I will definitely consider using this book as part of science lessons with primary school children when learning about the body.

Both my own children, and those in my classroom, loved this book. We’ve read it a number of times now and we arrive at different topics for discussion each time. It’s well laid out and illustrated with great facts that children find incredibly interesting. I highly recommend this book for the primary school classroom.

this is a lovely book for primary age children to help their understanding and vocabulary around all things 'brain'! The illustrations are just lovely and the book itself is well written.

The sections are divided up very logically and I found the amount of text to be just right for this age group it is targeted at.

My thanks to Net Galley, author and publisher for the opportunity too review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

The Great Big Brain Book explains what the brain is, how the brain grows, and many functions of the brain.

With insightful facts and illustrations to support the text. Points are made simply, in an easy way to understand.

At the end is a glossary under the title of ‘Some Useful Words’, great for building vocabulary and comprehension.

Excellent as a starting entry point into learning about the brain.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quatro Publishing Group for the e-arc.

The Great Big Brain Book, Mary Hoffman

This book is lovely - lots of information written in clear, child-friendly but not overly simplistic language, accompanied by lovely illustrations which link to and expand on the text. It serves as a really useful general awareness book about the brain and its many functions, but also touches on a range of brain-linked matters that children might encounter - diabetes, epilepsy, Alzheimers, stroke. It also briefly touches on early brain development and so can be used as a gentle ‘in’ with children for any of these topics.
My only reservation with this text is on the page around ‘When brains are different’. This page talks about epilepsy, tumour, Alzheimers, stroke and… autism. Because there is only a light touch given to each of these elements, it is easy to perceive that autism is a ‘negative’ state of brain development, which is unhelpful both for children with an ASC or those encountering children on the spectrum. Equally, there is no mention of ADD/ADHD at all in the book, which is a missed opportunity given the likelihood that children will encounter both ASC and ADHD in peers both at school and in wider society. It would have been more helpful to draw out these neuroatypicalities in their own spread, and group together brain ‘illness’ - tumour, Alzheimers, etc. - separately.
As such, I’d probably steer away from using that part of the book in classrooms with children, as there are better books to explore this in depth, and I’d need to over-explain ASC to prevent misconceptions.
Generally though, it is a useful and engaging book which cleverly references a range of brain-linked conditions to help children’s formative understanding.

The Great Big Brain Book introduces children to the brain and how it works through simple informative sections which are accompanied by bright and funny illustrations. My 6 year old was completely absorbed by this book and loved looking through it by himself. If you are looking for a simple overview of the brain which young children can read and understand for themselves, this is perfect.