To Burp or Not to Burp – A Guide to Your Body in Space

Many kids are fascinated by space and space travel. Even though we are not pushing a huge amount of space exploration at the moment, NASA is busy working on the notion of sending people to Mars and other cool projects. So it is quite possible that today’s children could be the next people to man a space mission. Of all the questions astronauts are asked by kids, the most frequent one is “How do you go to the toilet in space?”

Now there is a fun and informative book all about the way space impacts bodily functions. NASA astronaut Dr. Dave Williams and children’s writer Loredana Cunti offer an entertaining and educational look at the weird, wild, and wonderful ways the human body copes with zero gravity for aspiring astronauts ages 7-10. This book not only answers that question, but many others about the effect of zero gravity on the human body: How do you brush your hair in space? What happens when you sweat? What does food taste like? The best thing is that the answers are provided by Dr. Dave Williams, a NASA astronaut who speaks from first-hand experience.

This fun book is separated into six sections

1. The “Number One” question – or everything you wanted to know about going to the bathroom in space.
2. Clean and Neat – all about personal grooming.
3. All Dressed Up – clothing inside and out of the space-craft.
4. Antigravity Appetite – how to eat, what to eat, and why burping isn’t such a good idea.
5. Body Basics – how your body responds to being in space.
6. Sleeping in Space – no pillows, no beds, no lying down.

Using age-appropriate language and a sense of humor, Dr. Dave explains the different phenomena that astronauts encounter during a mission. The bright, colorful pages, short blocks of text accompanied by photos and humorous illustrations make this a very attractive choice for young readers.

As mentioned, kids are fascinated by the notion of how you go to the bathroom in space. Dr. Dave gives them all of the necessary information. From needing a special vacuum to suction the waste away from the body, foot restraints to hold you in place and how constipation is a real issue in space, you learn everything you want to know, and probably some thing you didn’t want to know, about human waste in space.

There are also other issues that most of us have never thought about. You can’t take a shower in space. Cutting your hair can be a challenge as the hair would just float away. Even brushing your teeth requires special techniques! If your curious child hasn’t already thought about these things, this book will really make them consider how life without gravity is completely different than life on earth.

Of course, the book is called To Burp or Not to Burp and the would be remiss if that wasn’t something that was fully covered. I learned things about why you burp and how that I never would have thought of without this book.

For any aspiring astronaut, or just kids who are curious about how things work, this is a great addition to any library!

This is part of my attempt to stay engaged with the non-fiction picture book challenge hosted by Alyson Beecher of Kid Lit Frenzy. This is a weekly link-up of amazing non-fiction picture books for kids. I’ve learned about a ton of great books by checking out these great posts. Click here for this week’s selection.

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