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Review: Digestion! The Musical

 

Written by Adam Rex
Illustrated by Laura Park
Chronicle Books, 2022. Picture Book.

Adam Rex is known for his humorous picture books (if you haven't read Are You Scared, Darth Vader? stop what you're doing and go to the library to check it out right now, it's amazing!) and he hits it out of the park with Digestion! The Musical. Have you ever wished that something you disliked (learning about biology) could be combined with something you love (Broadway musicals)? Because I definitely have! That's what Adam Rex did here. This book follows the story of a piece of candy traveling through the digestive system until its eventual end in the toilet bowl and meeting different organs along the way. 

If you are looking for a book that explains in great detail how the digestive system works, you'll want to look for a different book. But if you are looking for a brief overview of where your food goes after you eat it, this is the book for you. It would make a great read-aloud, and an even better sing-aloud (the entire text is rhyming and there's even a chorus of carrots). My only hope is that one day someone records this as an actual song so that I can listen to the story as its meant to be told.

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