The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts

Check out this poetry collection to meet the twin kidneys Kendra and Kenneth, Boss Brain, an un-rankled ankle, and, of course, the Blood-Hungry Spleen.

I mean, that spleen illustration. How can anyone say no to that? I certainly can’t, although my thirteen-year-old took one look as I was reading and made a Calvin-being-served-octopus face, so perhaps this one won’t resonate with everybody.

According to the author’s bio, he began work on these poems while teaching a middle school biology class, which totally tracks with the level of humor (but in a good way). As fun and silly as the poems are, it’s the illustrations that really sell it. Working with a gentle touch — that spleen is about as intense as it gets — the illustrator managed to balance anatomical accuracy and silliness beautifully.

In case you didn’t get this from the title, this book will not give you labeled diagrams and in-depth descriptions. It will, however, provide surprisingly moving musings on the circulatory system, an ode to toes, a very apt comparison of a tongue with a slug, and an entire poem devoted to puns about butts. That’s a big thumbs up for me!

By Allan Wolf, illus. by Greg Clarke
Published by Candlewick Press, 2008
Age: Elementary+

Content you might want to know about:

• There’s pee and poop stuff, but at least it’s educational?

• No gross-out blood — if your kid would be okay with the cover illustration, it’ll be fine.

• No bullying or intense situations.

• The illustrations depict a range of skin tones. To me, the most prominent human characters appear white.

• Puberty hormones and “boy / girl parts” are described using scientific language, with gender presented as binary.