Kids Book Review: How to be a Genius

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kids_book_review_be_geniusHow to be a Genius
DK Canada
Age 13-18
192 Pages

Synopsis from DK Canada:

 

This incredible book tells you how the brain works, how it helps you survive in the world, and how it makes you the person that you are. You can study the different functions, areas, and states of the brain, and at each stage, there are cool games, quizzes, puzzles, brain teasers, and more! The activities show readers how their brains can work even better, making this a challenging, informative, and practical book; the only one of its kind on the market.

 

Maybe it’s the thought that school’s starting soon or maybe I’m just suffering from summer brain mush but I’ve been spending a few days with my nose stuck in DK Canada‘s book How to be a Genius: Your Brain and How to Train it

At first I thought this book would be great for my 8-year old daughter. She loves math and puzzles (like me, well the puzzle part anyway) so I thought this would be a fun read. I always think it’s nice to toss some non-fiction into the mix and this would be fun non-fiction.

How to be a Genius starts off by giving you some information on your brain, including the senses, the differences between the left and right brain and even the physical parts of the brain. The book moves into other areas like the senses, memory, problem solving, language, creativity, plus how your brain makes you who you are and how it continues to develop and evolve.

Now a book about the brain may sound boring but not How to be a Genius. The content is broken out into easily digestible chunks and the pages are eye-catching with unique layouts and typography and a mix of photography and illustration. This book reminds me a lot of DK Canada‘s Pick Me Up (another favourite of ours), in structure not content.

Learning about the brain and how it functions and makes you who you are is interesting (at least to me) but the best part of the book are the brain games. The end of each section includes a few pages of brain games to help illustrate the points made and ‘train your brain’. I’m a big fan of brain games but I think the structure of How to be a Genius offers so much more than just a game to flex your brain matter. The content included with and before the brain game pages explain why your mind functions a certain way, why you may view things differently than others and how to adjust your thinking. This adds so much more to the experience.

Although I seem to have taken over the book, my 8-year old daughter has also spent time with it. She likes to pick an area that interests her, like creativity, and read that section and How to be a Genius is flexible enough to work that way. You don’t need to read the whole book to get some enjoyment (and learning) out of it. I have found my daughter sitting in her room working on the puzzles as an afternoon distraction.

Will How to be a Genius really make me a genius? Probably not but knowing how and why I think a different way then my kids or colleagues has been really helpful. And my 8-year old loves the problem solving, putting her brain matter through the paces. She says after reading How to be a Genius: Your Brain and How to Train It, she’s more than ready for grade 3. We’ll see.

You can add How to be a Genius to your personal library by visiting your local book store or visiting DK Canada. Visit our Kid’s Books section for other great book recommendations. What are you reading with your kids?

I have to thank Chris at DK Canada for my review copy.

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