With the topic of at-home learning still very much on many parents’ minds, there seemed like no better time to take a dive into the New Scientist series’ Where Do Astronauts Put Their Dirty Underwear? (Nicholas Brealey Publishing). The book is introduced by Bobby Seagull, but an author is not listed.
The book is broken down into sections: Our Bodies and Brains, Animals, Food and Drink, Grossology, Crazy Experiments and Bonkers Inventions, among others. They’re exactly the kind of chapter headers that would have made a younger me, in the bygone age of Accelerated Reader contests, burn through the 256-page book in a weekend.
In, for example, the “Why do tigers have stripes, not spots?” section, the authors reference a University of Bristol study that links big cats’ coat patterns to their environment. Lions, which are relatively plain-looking (minus the males’ mane), live in wide-open plains and hunt by day. Leopards, jaguars, and other spotted cats tend to live in lushly foliated environments and to hunt at night — not unlike tigers. So why do tigers have stripes, not spots? Well, researchers don’t know for certain. Where Do Astronauts Put Their Dirty Underwear? posits some potential solutions — the vertically oriented foliage like bamboo may have played a part — but they also make a point of explaining that there isn’t enough data to definitively determine the answer to the stripes-vs.-spots question. It’s an invaluable lesson, as so many of life’s questions require effort and research — and end in, at best, an educated guess.
The internal artwork by Jack Noel is a delight. His sketches add a recurring motif and inject a note of levity, which helps keep the collection fun — entertaining as well as educational.
“Life is complicated,” the book informs its readers, “which means there’s a lot going on in that brain and body of yours.” It’s a simple statement, but so true, and not necessarily something adults are always willing to admit to children. Life is complicated. There’s a lot going on, and we don’t always have the answers. For all the uncertainty in life, though, it’s a message that can be, seemingly paradoxically, a comfort.
At least, though, we can find out the solution to that most mysterious of mysteries: Where do astronauts put their dirty underwear? To find out, simply read on.
Thank you to Cotton Tails, the place to find unique children's clothing and shoes, located in the Laurelwood Shopping Center, and Literacy Mid-South for sponsoring this children’s book review! Learn more about the various programs offered by Literacy Mid-South by visiting their site literacymidsouth.org and following them on Facebook and Instagram @literacymidsouth.