Grow: Secrets of our DNA by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton

  Davies teams up with Sutton to bring us another scientific picture book. This one is all about the way things grow and how their growth is patterned in their DNA. The opening page shows a profusion of flowers, from seedlings to full bloom, a collection of domestic animals, from baby to adult, and a boy with curly hair and tan skin from infant to adulthood.

Different ways of growing are illustrated with a variety of living things, a bristlecone pine that grows slowly so it can live in the challenging mountain climate, quahog clams that grow slowly in the cold and dark of the ocean. A group of children with curly black hair and tan skin, march through the pages, investigating the different creatures. Most pictures feature one girl, her hair tied back in exuberant puffs, as she gardens, walks through different landscapes, and shows her own growth cycle, revealing a Black mother and white father whose DNA creates her and then moving on until she herself is pregnant, with a biracial partner at her side.

A simple but detailed explanation of DNA follows, showing how it affects genetics from hair color and texture to eye color. Similarities and differences in genetic code are shown, from how our code is similar to a chimpanzee to how different it is from a rose. The book ends with a full spread of a museum and the thought that we are connected to all life through our DNA, with a final picture of the little girl drawing a spiraling strand of DNA.

There is an afterword explaining more about how human bodies grow, but no sources or bibliography. I'm ok with that - this is more of an introduction than a research title. The lovely art and poetic text, although factually accurate, is more about introducing the reader to the idea of DNA and genetics and some vocabulary than being a scientific introduction to the topic.

Verdict: A unique and lovely approach to the complex topic of genetics. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781536212723; Published September 2020 by Candlewick; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library