It Takes Guts

Dr. Jennifer Gardy is a scientist who has worked at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and is now part of the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation Malaria team. She appears frequently on television programs such as CBC, The Nature of Things, the Discovery Channel, and Daily Planet. She lives in Chicago.Belle Wuthrich is an illustrator and designer specializing in books for young readers. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Belle has contributed to more than a dozen books for kids, a number of which have won awards or been republished internationally.

“Gardy has digested an impressive amount of information to produce a highly polished gem of a book.”—Quill & Quire STARRED review“Readers who have wondered how their bodies turn food into fuel and feces need look no further. All the juicy details are in this book. A fascinating, sometimes funny read that goes well beyond the scatological.”—Kirkus Reviews“Readers will come away from this lively anatomical odyssey marveling at the complex interplay of digestive organs, enzymes, and microbes ... [A] deliciously digestible disquisition.”—Booklist“What exactly is the science behind barfs and burps? And what about poop? Dr. Jennifer Gardy gives up all the juicy details on the magnificent human body.”—TinyBeans“Author Dr. Jennifer Gardy turns what would be a stinky situation into something almost magical, how your body’s organs work together to extract all the good stuff from food (like vitamins and minerals) and get rid of the waste by pooping it out.”—Romper“Packed with information…. Kids will enjoy the way the information is presented as well as the lighthearted tone…. entertaining, interesting, and informative. ...helpful to students who wonder about, or who are doing research on, this body system.”—School Library Connection“Perfect for a curious kid, this book doesn't take the humor out of the situation; instead, it lets kids find out how truly cool it all is.”—The Guam Daily Post“I wish my parents had read this book to me growing up. It would have made my time in medical school so much more productive, and made me a much better doctor after that. Should be mandatory reading in all schools.”—Dr. Alejandro Junger, author of Clean books and founder of the Clean Program

• Introduction: The Wonderful World of Gut1 Where It All Begins: The Mouth2 The Food Tube: Your Esophagus3 Enzymes and Acid and Mucus, Oh My!: Inside The Stomach4 When What Should Go Down Comes Up Again: The Science of Barfs and Burps5 Destination Digestion: The Not-So-Small Intestine (and Friends)6 Meet Your Microbiome: The Trillions of Tiny Tenants Helping You Poop7 Peristalsis and Poop: The Large Intestine8 The End: ReallyGlossaryIndex