I am not always a science person, but when I find one that I like, it sticks with me and is usually a children’s book. Two such books are reviewed below. One is about animals in both fiction illustrations and factual humor and the other is about the nature of the human brain for younger readers. Both were read via online reader copies and the first is due early April 2026 and the second later in the month.. 
As much as I enjoyed Prickles and Prides by Wendy Barrón, there were a couple bumps. Still due to the average of all the pieces (I base ratings on writing style, writing understanding, illustrations, my personal liking of the pieces and the overallness, will others like, and was there humor if needed and a few other things) my rating is 4.5. Therefore, it is almost perfect. The biggest bump for me was that the writing itself was not completely smooth and the start of the story where the humans and animals are being shown on the same page, both as “humans” though the humans were mostly in shadow and animals dressed as humans, was a bit off visually. However, overall this was most enjoyable, made me happy, and I very much giggled over several of the visual puns (the troop of chimps dressed as scouts in a scout troop). It is a good book and I look forward to others in the series. 
Hooray for My Brain! by Paul Meisel did not start off with a like. I expected this book to be more poetic and young about how wonderful the brain is.This made me a bit skeptical that I would be able to recommend it. Instead it turned out to have both a poetic and a factual element and actually talks about the pieces of the brain and what it does. This combination allows the book to grow with the child, but the illustrations do lean on the young side of ages four to seven, making it look more “childish” and less “growable” for the older reader or listener. Things are not overly complicated, but not shying away from things either. It is more straightforward even with the lighter tone you might not think of for a factual book. It is the illustrations that will make or break it for readers. Leaning towards a more simplistic look, they are not as detailed as possibly needed, still they are enjoyable.
