Maris Wicks Cover Reveal: Coral Reefs

The other day I wrote the following on Facebook about my four-year-old:

“We’re reading my daughter a graphic novel for 9-12 year olds every night (her insistence) called Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks. Basically it goes through all the different parts and functions of the body. Well, tonight she was once again swallowing her toothpaste rather than spitting it. I called her on it and this was her response. I’ve written it as close to her own words as possible:

“It’s not my fault. It’s called abolation and everybody gets it. It makes you not like your toothpaste anymore. You know that pink dot that hangs down from the appendix? Well it swells up to this big [indicates palm] and moves around the body. It makes you not like your toothpaste anymore . . . and sometimes your food, but that’s rare. You know writer’s block? It causes that too. It’s called abolation.”

She later explained that the pink dot wants to leave the body and that it’s why the appendix has to be removed. So. In case you want a book that will inspire your child to think medically . . .

I then linked to Human Body Theater, which seems to have the singular ability to cause small children (and older ones as well, I’m sure) to want to know as much as possible about medical science.  No small feat. Granted mine has a bit of a propensity for original science, but seeing as how she is the product of two English majors, I’m not exactly surprised.

Of course I’d been a fan of Ms. Wicks for years, starting with her work on the picture book Yes, Let’s as written by Galen Goodwin and continuing through Primates, written by Jim Ottaviani.  At Day of Dialog in the spring I learned about the incipient existence of Human Body Theater and had been (not so) patiently awaiting its release ever since.

But wait!!  Hold the phone!!  That is not all Ms. Wicks is capable of, oh no.  That is not all.  For lo, see ye the following cover reveal.  Yea verily, tis a bonny bonny book:

My hope is that this inspires in the resident offspring the same love of the ocean as her previous book caused in terms of bodily functions.  But looking at these interior spreads, I think I’ve little to worry about.

Want to know more about the new Science Comics series?  Here is the full description:

“Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic–dinosaurs, coral reefs, the solar system, volcanoes, bats, flying machines, and more. These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects. Whether you’re a fourth grader doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty-year-old with a secret passion for airplanes, these books are for you!

This volume: in Coral Reefs, we learn all about these tiny, adorable sea animals! This absorbing look at ocean science covers the biology of coral reefs as well as their ecological importance. Nonfiction comics genius Maris Wicks brings to bear her signature combination of hardcore cuteness and in-depth science.

Maris Wicks lives in sunny Somerville, Massachusetts. She is the author behind Human Body Theater, as well as the illustrator of New York Times-bestselling Primates, with Jim Ottaviani. When she’s not making comics, Wicks works as a program educator at the New England Aquarium. She is quite fond of being in the water, whether it’s swimming in ponds or scuba diving in the Atlantic Ocean. Her latest book, Coral Reefs, will be in stores in May 2016. dotsforeyes.blogspot.com”

Many thanks to First Second for allowing me this cover reveal and to Ms. Wicks for generally existing in the first place.

GO CORAL!!

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