‘Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body’: We Are All Made of Energy

Did you know that there is enough energy in just your little pinky to power an entire city?

That’s how this book of wonder begins, explaining how marvelous our bodies can be. Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body, written by Seth Fishman and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg, looks at energy and how it relates to the human body. Our cells contain quite a lot of energy, so an entire pinky can be pretty powerful. Not to mention our skeletons, muscular system, and, of course, our superpowered brains, which use a lot of energy to think up all kinds of magnificent things.

This picture book aimed at the early elementary set (ages 4 to 8, which I’d say is about right) takes readers—and those reading along—on a journey through their bodies and and minds, from their pinkies to their brains demonstrating their potential for doing All the Things and adding their unique perspective to the patchwork that is our world. Everything you do, including thinking, takes energy, energy gained from food. By consuming healthy food, getting adequate sleep, and exercising sufficiently, we ensure we can keep discovering, creating, and shining our own personal light on the world.

With the same fun, playful illustration and format as Fishman’s first picture book, A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars, Power Up makes science relatable to kids, helps them connect it to their lives and their own worlds, and adds in a healthy dose of science at a level accessible to the target audience. Fishman teaches readers of his books about scientific topics—such as energy in this case—by drawing real-life comparisons. How does your body use energy? What can you do with it? How will you choose to spend it?

The book shows that science can be approached in a fun way, satisfying our questions and driving our curiosity to learn more. The author has a knack for making large, involved science topics completely approachable for young kids, laying the groundwork for lifelong exploration of the world around them. The illustrator has set all this to beautiful, engaging artwork that is easy for kids to relate to. And, by reading this book along with your kids, you learn and explore together, which shows your kids that sometimes even you don’t have all the answers. But you can search for them together. Demonstrating to your kids that you don’t know everything, but know how to find answers to difficult questions, shows them that learning is a lifelong activity that doesn’t end when formal schooling ends. It’s a big part of what helps us grow as people. Setting that example for your kids early lays the groundwork for self-sufficiency and growth for the rest of their lives.

As with the first book, the back pages of this one include a more detailed science discussion of the concepts introduced in the book, explaining the concepts of equations, the speed of light, and more.

This book, along with A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars, addresses questions that your kids might ask you, and gives you a basis for explaining scientific topics in a way that they can understand, without you having to Google them and distill the information yourself. Plus the illustrations are beautiful and playful; it’s perfect for a joint read through. The whole thing helps kids learn how magnificent our bodies and minds are, which helps them feel good about themselves.

I hope Seth Fishman and Isabel Greenberg continue to collaborate on more books in this series of fun, eye-opening, accessible science books for little kids.

I heartily recommend Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body to any kid or family who is excited about science and how it relates to their everyday life. It’s perfect for storytime, bedtime, and anytime. And, if they like Power Up, be sure to check out A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars too.

Note: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.