posted on 12 Mar 2024

The Brilliant Brain by Dr Roopa Farooki, illustrated by Viola Wang

Complex, enigmatic and with a claim to be the most important creation of the natural world, the human brain and how it works would baffle even well-educated adults trying to understand how brain, body and the outside world work together. If it’s difficult for adults, it’s not hard to imagine just how hard it is to make the structure and functioning of the brain understandable to children – especially younger ones. That’s exactly the challenge that Dr Farooki has taken on with The Brilliant Brain: How it works and how to look after it.

She has some substantial pitfalls to avoid: make it too simple and it becomes meaningless and adds nothing – and – it’s important not to sound as if the young reader is being patronised. It’s a fine line to walk and I’m delighted to say that this book stays on the right side of those lines.

The focus from the outset is on the structure of the brain and its importance to the proper functioning of our bodies:

“If you think of your body as a kind of machine, your brain would be the control room – with MILLIONS of buttons and levers doing all kinds of different jobs.”

Modern science has made fantastic progress in identifying the way the brain works in this guise as a ‘control room’. We know that different functions take place in discreet parts of the brain and author and illustrator combine to good effect in drawing a completely accessible ‘map’ of the brain and its zones of influence.

But how does the brain tell the body to undertake what it has decided would be a good thing to do? Well, that’s the job of the nervous system and we get a diagram of that too.

You’ll also know that we don’t just have to make assessments and decisions to send to nerves, we also have to make those things actually happen – and to do many things at once. We also have to do things we don’t actually think about – breathing, sending blood around the body etc. – and again it’s the brain that helps us out.

If that’s not complicated enough, we’ve still got to factor in those intangible things like memory and emotions. And this, of course, is where things could get more contentious but Dr Farooki makes the entirely wise decision to avoid the whole mind/brain debate and concludes with the upbeat message:

“What’s the single most special thing about your busy, bright, baffling brain?

The answer is………you fill it every day, with everything you see, feel and do.

So, it creates all the thrilling thoughts and stores all the magical memories…

that make you YOU.”

The book ends with some simple, straight-forward tips from the doctor about how to keep your brain healthy = things anyone can do.

Available now from Walker Books, you will be able to get a copy from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have copies on the shelf.

 

Terry Potter

March 2024