Since children are naturally curious about their body, it’s no wonder that they are fascinated by human body books!
Anatomy and health science are among my favorite topics to discuss with children. In this post, I will share our favorite books that introduce the human body to children between ages 0-12 years of age.
Human body books: benefits for children
In our home library, we have a few books on each subject for reference. When my children are curious about a particular topic, I can grab one of our books, read to learn answers, and use the illustrations for further discussion.
Human anatomy books are particularly useful because our children are constantly wondering about their bodies.
They want to know where their food goes and why they feel full. Inner organs, muscles, and bones – they are all a fascinating mystery!
Human body books in 3 languages
Since my children speak 3 languages, we have a collection of human anatomy books in English, Chinese, and Korean.
Although I was previously practicing pediatrics, medical vocabulary in Chinese is very new to me as English is my native language. Our nanny also speaks Korean, although only conversationally. Therefore, if we need to look up a the name of a body part, we can refer to our human anatomy books!
Otherwise, my daughter has been exploring the Chinese human body books in more depth with her Chinese tutor.
Challenges in shopping for human body books
When I was first browsing online bookstores for this topic a few years ago, I wasn’t sure which book was the best. Buying books that aren’t your native tongue is often challenging!
My biggest frustration with popular children’s science books is that concepts from outward appearance to microscopic bacteria are unnecessarily cartoonified.
When my daughter asks about viruses and what they look like, most children’s books will show colorful caricatures with angry faces. In reality, pathogens have no faces or emotions. Furthermore, some bacteria are a necessary part of healthy skin and gut flora.
The problem that many publishers fail to recognize is that realistic details are interesting to children.
Children can have fun looking at photographs of the heart and brain; they don’t need “dumbed down” illustrations that are visually misleading!
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Human body books in English, Chinese, and Korean
Without further ado, here are anatomy books for children in our family’s 3 languages!
Most of these books are in simplified Chinese; some are in English and a couple are in Korean.
Each of the books listed are hardcover editions. ISBN information is included so that you can find the books online or at your local library.
At the end of the post, I’ll also include a book that should be avoided as well as a highly loved discontinued book series.
1. Anatomy: A Cutaway Look Inside the Human Body by Jean-Claude Druvert
This book gives an overview about human anatomy through gorgeous, detailed illustrations and background about each organ system.
The laser cut organ systems have amazing details that you can see and feel!
To see each organ more clearly, I suggest placing a black sheet of paper behind each page when you want to focus on a particular system.
As shown in the image above, the beautiful illustrations are accompanied by 1 page of information.
Where to buy:
- English: ISBN 9780500651360
2. Chinese human body book: 3D 立体书人体的奥秘科学
This is by far our family’s favorite human anatomy book that is full of medical details.
Depending on your family’s Chinese level, this book may be useful for children of all ages.
Our Chinese teacher from Beijing felt that she was learning a lot of new vocabulary herself while reading this with my daughter!
The realistic 3 dimensional images help explain how the human body functions. Each flap and envelope contains extra information and images to explore.
For example, one of the flaps contains images of the eyes and how is changes over time (eg, wrinkles and droppping).
Here’s a closer look at how our realistic heart models was used in conjunction with the book.
Having something to hold makes such a big difference in explaining science to children!
The life-size heart model below is from my husband’s work; similar ones can be found here and here.
The mini model is part of our 3B Scientific Mini-Torso model (similar one on Amazon here).
Where to buy 3D 立体书人体的奥秘科学:
- Simplified Chinese: ISBN 9787545041040
- Traditional Chinese: Part of a series
- 嘉禧的泛亞文化服務站 (Add C Service)
3. Chinese human body book: 医院 (儿童版)(精)/我的科学启蒙书
This is a wonderful human body book that reads like a story with relevant facts about the body. Originally written in German, the Chinese version is translated well according to our Chinese teacher.
The realistic illustrations help children reflect on their own doctor’s appointments and experience with health check-ups!
My daughter read part of this on her own, and she was intrigued that they showed an example of an allergy test!
Since my son has several food allergies, it was helpful for him to see another child experiencing a relevant procedure.
Where to buy:
- Simplified Chinese: ISBN 9787530475713
4. Chinese human body book: 乐乐趣身边得科学系列 – 我们的身体
This is a very popular 3D interactive Chinese book for children.
Both of my kids were instantly attracted to it, especially the baby floating in liquid, representing amniotic fluid in a pregnant uterus!!!
Over the past couple of years, my children have enjoyed all of the 3D books by this publisher! There is so much to see, touch, and move!
The downside is the inaccuracy of some organs.
For example, the image of the digestive tract shows a food bolus traveling straight down through the intestines instead of traveling through the path.
The vessels of the circulatory system are drawn somewhat randomly as well.
Still, I would recommend this book as it is probably the one that my children are drawn to most!
For reference, I compare images with more accurate illustrations from our other books so they understand that some books try to simplify concepts.
Where to buy:
- Simplified Chinese: ISBN 9787541745546
- Taobao (part of 3D book set)
4. Usborne Lift-the-flap Human Body Book 身体小百科(看里面问答版)
Like most Usborne books, the illustrations are adorable!
In addition, the book is fun and interactive with question and answer flaps. On the front of each interactive flap is a question while the underside contains the answer.
For example, “
My 5.5-year-old daughter really enjoys it and can read it mostly independently.
Since the information is pretty basic, children under age 7 years would likely find it most interesting.
However, older children who are just starting to learn Chinese may also enjoy learning common Chinese vocabulary from this book!
Where to buy:
6. Usborne Look Inside Your Body 어스본요리조리 열어 보는 우리 몸
This book was originally written in English and has been translated to numerous languages, and we have the Korean version.
The style is somewhat similar to the book in number 5 with the flaps of information, and the book superficially covers each body part.
The difference is that this book does not have the cute question-and-answer format as the previous book, but it covers a little more information about the inner organs.
Where to buy:
- Korean: ISBN 9791186872307
- English
7. Chinese Human Body Board Book: 百变思维魔法窗 – 我的身体
This is a cute and interactive board book that teaches basic vocabulary and simple questions in Chinese.
I recommend this for parents of young children who are beginning to learn Chinese, because the book teaches names of the basic body parts.
The board book is durable enough for little babies, and the sliding window is a fun way to encourage learning new Chinese words! Most words have Pinyin, which is helpful for non-fluent parents like me.
Where to buy:
- Simplified Chinese: ISBN 9787535350251
Human body books that are NOT recommended
Since many better options exist, I strongly discourage the following books even if they might have good online reviews.
Whenever we buy or borrow a book, we should ask “What value does this add for my child? Is this worth our time and money?”
All of the previously mentioned books are far superior to these books because they are not only fun and interactive but also educational.
Little Explorer Human Body Book
Little Explorers: My Amazing Body is one of my least favorite children’s books.
Compared to the aforementioned books, you can see that these illustrations are very colorful and provide little context.
Since our nanny is trying to improve her Korean skills and can filter out the visuals, I have given the Korean version of this book to our nanny.
National Geographic 奇妙人体 Human Body Book
Another book that I regret getting is the National Geographic Human Body Book.
National Geographic is known for high quality science photographs, so I mistakenly assumed this book would be a good choice.
However, I should have judged this book by its cover: the inside provides little information visually, and I’m not sure if I should recycle the book…
Out-of-print anatomy book: Skeletons (Korean)
This out of print Korean book about skeletons is one part of an incredible 80 book set from The Picture Book of Nature and Science. My children love every single book in this series, and the skeleton book is no exception!
I apologize for sharing a book that cannot be purchased! However, I am praying that an author, illustrator, or publisher might see this article.
Hopefully, this will inspire someone to create more beautiful, realistic, captivating, and educational resources for our children’s generation.
Take away points
Although we have several human body books, most people will not need so many basic ones. Just a few would be helpful to keep at home for convenient reference.
However, be picky about the illustrations!
We all learn information from our eyes first!
Which Human Body book is your favorite?
I’d love to know whether you have any of these books already, and what you think of them!
Please leave a comment so that we can all check out your suggestions! 🙂
More Chinese children’s books about the human body
- Chinese Magic School Bus Science Books
- 我宝贵的身体 性教育绘本 (My Precious Body) Set of 3 Chinese Books
- Health Guides 影响孩子一生的健康书 Chinese Book Review
- Best Potty-Training Books, Potty Seats, and Tips for Toddlers
Chinese Human body activities for children
- How to Make a Felt Eye Puzzle – Human Anatomy Activity for Kids
- Pipe Cleaner Glasses + 目 Sight Word Stamping
- DIY Mouth Puzzle & Coloring Sheet {Free Printable}
- Left Versus Right Hand: How to Teach Your Child Left and Right with Stickers!
- Learn Chinese Heart Radical Words with Heart Puzzles & Washi Tape!
- People by Peter Spier – Book Review and 人 Chinese Character Learning Activities
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