The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine

Tory Woollcott’s The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine uses the graphic novel style to combine an informative text about the inner workings of the brain with the fictional story of sisters Fahama and Nour. Nour is selling cookies as a fundraiser for her Woodland Adventure troop. While helping her sister, Fahama is kidnapped by a mad scientist intent on removing her brain. Fahama manages to stall the scientist by asking questions about how her brain works, and his explanations become the informative portion of the text. That description doesn’t do the book justice; Woollcott’s text and Alex Graudins’ illustrations combine to create an incredibly engaging look into how the human brain really works, with a storyline that provides real-world examples of the brain in action.

Graudins’ artwork is colourful, fun, and varied. No two pages follow the same format; there are labelled diagrams interspersed with narrative panels, creating interesting and visually impressive full-page spreads. Her colours are bright and lively, and she somehow manages to make cells, brains, and neurons cute and full of personality.

Woollcott’s expository text is complicated by necessity—the brain is a complex thing, after all-- but it won’t be over the head of most middle-grade readers. There is also a detailed glossary of terms in the back of the book. The narrative portion of the next is clever, with good voice and some really funny lines, both of which are supported by the facial expressions on Graudins’ characters.

My first glimpse of The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine had me hoping it was a series. Before I was halfway through, I had the entire series added to my wishlist for my school library. This book perfectly combines so many things that reluctant readers will gravitate towards-- great illustrations, nonfiction content, and an easy-to-follow storyline that supports that content. It uses scientific terms but at the level of a student reader. It will also appeal to stronger readers as it is informative, funny, and overall a good read. While I can’t speak to the accuracy of the content (I admittedly thought more than once “Sounds accurate. I’m sure they did their research!”), the format is a terrific way to supplement curriculum and satisfy young scientific minds.