Kay's Marvellous Medicine: A Gross and Gruesome History of the Human Body

Shortlisted for The British Book Awards 2022 Children's Non-Fiction Book of the Year

The brand-new, hilarious book from bestselling, record-breaking author Adam Kay.

The olden days were pretty fun if you liked wearing chainmail or chopping people's heads off but there was one tiny little problem back then . . . doctors didn't have the slightest clue about how our bodies worked.

It's time to find out why Ancient Egyptians thought the brain was just a useless load of old stuffing that might as well be chucked in the bin, why teachers forced their pupils to smoke cigarettes, why hairdressers would cut off their customers' legs, and why people used to get paid for farting. (Unfortunately that's no longer a thing - sorry.)

You'll get answers to questions like:

Why did patients gargle with wee?
How did a doctor save people's lives using a washing machine, a can of beans and some old sausages?
What was the great stink? (No, it's not what doctors call your bum.) If you're sure you're ready, then pop a peg on your nose (there was a lot of stinky pus back then), pull on your wellies (there was a lot of poo there too), wash your hands (because they certainly didn't) and explore this gross and gruesome history of the human body!

• Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
• ISBN: 9780241508541
• Number of pages: 416
• Weight: 332g
• Dimensions: 197 x 128 x 26 mm