Nick SelukBesprekingen

Independent Reading Level: Grades K-2
Awards: Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, and National Book Award finalist

How I Broke Up With My Colon is a collection of various contributors' medical stories - often experienced firsthand, although occasionally stories they heard from other people - as illustrated by The Awkward Yeti (Nick Seluk).

If you're a fan of horrifying medical stories told in funny ways, I highly recommend reading this. Warning: some of them are very hard to read and can cause secondhand anxiety (or at least they did in me).

The one that made me laugh until I cried: "Pancakes!" I think it was some combination of that poor new nurse having to simultaneously deal with surprising amounts of blood and massive amounts of vomit.

"Epistaxis" gave me flashbacks to my nosebleed from hell incident a few years back. At least I didn't bleed from my eyes, though.

"The Needle" was illustrated in the most anxiety-inducing way and left me feeling absolutely horrified because it could happen to anybody. Yeesh.

The one I didn't believe: "MacGyver Syndrome." I understand that people will do stupid things, but this seemed like the kind of stupid that would cause way more damage, as well as make it difficult (due to the massive amounts of pain) to explain the stupid thing you did to yourself.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)½

I KNEW I RECOGNIZED THE GALLBLADER FROM SOMEWHERE, THIS IS THE GUY WHO DOES THE AWKWARD YETI

Not quite as good as his comics, but this was cute. The idea is to teach children about the importance of the brain and how it works in the body, but I'm not sure if it would become a household favorite.

Well done read aloudable non fiction with sections to skip if you need to.

Reading age ‏ : ‎ 4 - 8 years
Part of a series: Kind of a Big Deal
Length: 40 Pages

Independent reading level: grades K-4

This series never fails to make me smile. It was so much fun meeting Heart , Brain and the rest of the gang again!

I love how important topics such as mental health, anxiety, work-life balance, and self-acceptance, among others, have been addressed with sensitivity and humor.

Divided into three segments, each of which begins with a heartfelt message from the author, this installment of the exceptional Heart and Brain series is, in turn, thought-provoking, laugh-out- loud funny and inspiring! It's definitely one of the best in the series!

Good things come in small packages. Sometimes good things aren’t so good when in large quantities. And that’s how I feel about these comics and cartoons. I do love seeing the random panels online or even daily on a calendar but all together in one book it’s just too much. There doesn’t seem to be any overarching storyline to keep you interested in turning the page. Maybe if I read these two pages a day instead of in one sitting, I would like it more. This is one of those “too much of a good thing” situations.

I love the cave man panel, heart is hilarious! This was a great collection of Nick's work. I love that Nick introduces each section with a bit more about his life and what he has been going through.

Any one of these panels could be turned into a motivational poster for you office cubicle.

Highly recommend.

Independent Reading Level: 4th/5th Grade

This book would be good for primary grades. It is about facts about the sun and all the sun does in the solar system. I would use this during a science lesson about space.

I admit to loving The Awkward Yeti and following the (mis)adventures of Heart and Brain regularly, so this collection is an ideal book to use for both enjoyment and to break up more stressful reading, or whatever else I need breaks from.

Some of the comics speak a little less to me than others, but that is to be expected. That said, what makes them so popular is that they highlight things that most of us can relate to. So the ones that connect, which is the vast majority, almost feel like they were written for me. I imagine many other readers feel the same.

I would recommend this to any reader who likes to have a light but not meaningless book at hand for those moments you simply need something different. This is also a great gift, a gift of humor is usually welcome.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/HFGR36SDFvI

Enjoy!

Absolutely outstanding book that manages to be fun, educational, and thought-provoking all at the same time!

This is the first basically-cartoon book I have ever bought. It's also the first in a long time that I bought anything from a new bookstore. But it didn't look like this would end up in a used bookstore anytime soon, and even the used ones online retained the newbie price (if shipping is included). So now I gladly leave these glossy pages next to my bed for happy reading.

Or, as my communications instructors would say, I'm no longer a consumer but a costumer--I fell in to The Awkward Yeti's marketing strategy. Oh well. I'm not immune.

Heart and Brain essentially introduced me to webcomics and comics in general--others never resonated with me. However, The Awkward Yeti (hint hint, the bookstores list the author as Nick Seluk and not The Awkward Yeti, in case you're trying to find it on alphabetical shelves) integrates science and philosophy in the way most people experience it in everyday life. Not only that, but as a chronically ill person with multiple uncooperative organs, I've always joked with myself and nurses about the organs' personalities and why they squabble. This is exactly how the Heart and Brain comics operate, and I love it.

Many of the skits seem random, like filler episodes in between arcs or your favorite TV show, while the rest follow a logical sequence. Having a hard time waking up in the morning? Stay tuned, because Heart and Brain take turns trying to get Lars (The Awkward Yeti character) out of bed. Time for coffee? Read a series of coffee comics. Talking about art in one? The next is a scene in a museum. Later in the book the lot try to sleep, and fail for Heart and Brain reasons. As they experience more in life, i.e. the pages of the book, Brain contemplates more of big issues and Heart has slightly more mature responses. I love the consideration the author put into organizing the scenes.

A final perk I appreciate: I read the book wondering where my favorite one would appear...or if. It was the very last one. The climax. I'd imagine that one is one of The Awkward Yeti's favorites as well.

An octopus and a krill serve as tour guides through the ocean's four zones (sunlight, twilight, midnight, abyssal), highlighting the creatures that live in each, the ways they've adapted to their unique environments, and humans' effect on the ocean, including plastic pollution.

A sea star is labeled "starfish," and the illustration of the baleen whale could be better, but otherwise this book is an excellent nonfiction text about oceans. Back matter: glossary.

I'd like to thank Nick Seluk for putting things in perspective for me. Now I know it's not just me that has regular conversations with my internal organs. And some of them aren't as cheerful as I am.

Learning that my tongue plays devil's advocate makes complete and utter sense!

Also, Lettuce=Evil. That makes things clear too.

This may be one of my favorite reads!

Love the mix of humor and informational text. Great read aloud for space lovers.

I enjoyed this book! Several times I read a comic out loud and had to show it to my husband, saying "Heart is me!" "NO, no, brain is me!" I laughed out loud several times. Highly recommend. Jokes are on par with Hyperbole and a Half!

Charmingly realistic.

I picked this up because I am a fan of the Heart and Brain comic series, and naturally I found much to like about this book. But I think I liked The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal better; this may be because Sun was covering different topics from the usual cartoons, so it felt newer to me. I do hope there will be one about the body in general because I need another book with Gallbladder in it! He is so cute.