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The Secret Code Inside You: All About Your DNA
Learn about the secret code that is DNA in this picture book!
There's a secret code inside you, a code called DNA.
A code that tells your body's cells what they should do each day.
It looks like twisted ladders, or tiny, twirling noodles.
It makes us into people, instead of into poodles.
Why can't humans breathe underwater? Why are some people tall and others short? Why do we resemble our parents and grandparents? This book explores all this and more in rhyming text, explaining cells, DNA, and genetics in a way that is simple and easy for children to understand.
There's a secret code inside you, a code called DNA.
A code that tells your body's cells what they should do each day.
It looks like twisted ladders, or tiny, twirling noodles.
It makes us into people, instead of into poodles.
Why can't humans breathe underwater? Why are some people tall and others short? Why do we resemble our parents and grandparents? This book explores all this and more in rhyming text, explaining cells, DNA, and genetics in a way that is simple and easy for children to understand.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2021
1 person is currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Rajani LaRocca
32 books552 followersRajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning books for young people, including Red, White, and Whole, which won a 2022 Newbery Honor, the Walter Dean Myers Award, Golden Kite Award, and New England Book Award. Her other books include: Midsummer’s Mayhem (2019), Seven Golden Rings (2020), Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers (2021), Much Ado About Baseball (2021), Where Three Oceans Meet (2021), My Little Golden Book About Kamala Harris (2021), The Secret Code Inside You (2021), I'll Go and Come Back (2022), and more. She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, prose and poetry. She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks. To connect with Rajani and learn more about her and her books visit her at www.RajaniLaRocca.com and on Twitter and Instagram @rajanilarocca.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 12, 2021
There’s so much packed into this book: science lessons, read-aloud joy, and a message of choosing who you want to be. The clever rhymes and adorable illustrations make learning about DNA fun and accessible for children. The science around DNA and cells and genes is treated in a friendly, approachable, and humorous way, i.e. DNA looks like twisted noodles and “makes us into people, instead of into poodles.” I really appreciate the message that although DNA can determine HOW you look, “YOU choose where to look: at butterflies or sunset skies or even at this book.” At the end of the book, both adults and children will enjoy the interesting DNA facts. My daughter and I loved doing the banana DNA extraction experiment that the author included!
October 10, 2021
Rajani La Rocca knows how to engage and intrigue curious minds! The Secret Code Inside of You opens up with questions that grab young readers attention and guide them to a deeper understanding of DNA in a fun relatable way. Steven Salerno's bright playful illustrations make complex concepts accessible and inviting. LaRocca's theme that DNA contains the instructions for life, but that kids have autonomy over their choices is empowering! The back matter is informative and kid-friendly, and the experiment is a wonderful activity for caregivers and their Littles or a classroom. This is the kind of book that creates science lovers and sets kids up for future success!
September 13, 2021
Brilliant and entertaining way to explain a complicated subject to children. This non-fiction book written in rhyme is like a schoolhouse rock for DNA and genetics. While there are some things are set due to DNA, Rajani manages to include the important message that readers have control over and can choose how they use what they have. Backmatter even includes an experiment which enables readers to see the DNA of fruit!
January 28, 2022
Rajani LaRocca puts on her doctor hat while writing this rhyming informational book! Dr. LaRocca breaks down the scientific code that is DNA for young readers.
October 2, 2021
Bright, cheerful illustrations and rhyming text explain in simple terms what your DNA code tells your cells to help "you grow into you," while also reinforcing that decisions we make are what make each of us more unique. Detailed back matter and a fun experiment provide a wonderful introduction to understanding who and what we are and how we are made. A must for elementary classrooms!
July 13, 2021
THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU is an amazing book. Rhyming non-fiction explaining DNA in a relatable and heart-filled way for kids! So much fascinating information and a wonderful overall message. Parents and kids alike will love this book.
October 7, 2021
You simply can't live in it without viewing it as a miracle every single moment. Your body automatically ensures you breathe in and breathe out. It pumps blood throughout an intricate system of veins and arteries to and from your heart. Consumed food and liquid is turned into fuel. Bones and muscles allow us to perform any number of tasks like walking, holding hands, or winning an Olympic gold medal. Our nervous system receives data and determines the best possible response.
Sometimes you read a nonfiction picture book and think----Where was this book when I was in school? The author and illustrator, using their combined talents, have made something difficult easier to understand. The Secret Code Inside You: All About Your DNA (Little Bee Books, September 14, 2021) written by Rajani LaRocca, MD with illustrations by Steven Salerno approaches cells, genetics and DNA definitively and distinctively.
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
Sometimes you read a nonfiction picture book and think----Where was this book when I was in school? The author and illustrator, using their combined talents, have made something difficult easier to understand. The Secret Code Inside You: All About Your DNA (Little Bee Books, September 14, 2021) written by Rajani LaRocca, MD with illustrations by Steven Salerno approaches cells, genetics and DNA definitively and distinctively.
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
April 4, 2022
"There's a secret code inside of you,
a code called DNA.
A code that tells your body's cells
what they should do each day.
It looks like twisted ladders,
or tiny, twirling noodles.
It makes us into people,
instead of into poodles."
Delightful rhyming text that systematically introduces the reader to cells, DNA, and genes.
Would work well for NGSS 3RD GRADE INHERITANCE AND VARIATION OF TRAITS unit of study. Recommend reading aloud for JOY and then rereading to think through the ideas. The BACK MATTER explains cells, DNA, and genes in kid-friendly terms, making it a good second "source" on the topic. Plus there's a "Banana DNA Experiment" at the end that seems manageable!
PAIR THIS TEXT WITH Grow: Secrets of Our DNA by Nicola Davies.
a code called DNA.
A code that tells your body's cells
what they should do each day.
It looks like twisted ladders,
or tiny, twirling noodles.
It makes us into people,
instead of into poodles."
Delightful rhyming text that systematically introduces the reader to cells, DNA, and genes.
Would work well for NGSS 3RD GRADE INHERITANCE AND VARIATION OF TRAITS unit of study. Recommend reading aloud for JOY and then rereading to think through the ideas. The BACK MATTER explains cells, DNA, and genes in kid-friendly terms, making it a good second "source" on the topic. Plus there's a "Banana DNA Experiment" at the end that seems manageable!
PAIR THIS TEXT WITH Grow: Secrets of Our DNA by Nicola Davies.
November 10, 2021
Really cute, easy to understand children's book on DNA. Two things I really enjoyed about this book was how well everything rhythmed and that it mentions that not all families are biologically related to each other. It would be a great book for adopted children who may wonder why they do not look like their parents. Very sweet and I loved the fact page in the back with the banana DNA experiment to try at home.
December 13, 2021
THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU is a great introduction to the world of DNA for kids. The text is engaging and relatable. The illustrations are bright and fun. Don't miss the extra facts and simple experiment in the back.
September 19, 2021
Fun and accessible introduction to DNA and genetics.
March 23, 2022
A rhyming introduction to DNA, cells, and genetics for kids.
The former biology teacher in me is super impressed by this. LaRocca broke down the concepts of genetics, how DNA makes humans distinct from animals and both similar and different from each other in vocabulary that is both scientifically accurate AND easy for kids to grasp. I really like how she ended the book too, with a challenge that DNA determines certain things but you choose what you do with what you are genetically given and the kind of attitude you have and citizen you are. Oh, and she managed to do all that in rhyme too. Pretty amazing. The illustrations are cute and complement the concepts well, often letting the text be presented in artsy ways. There's further information in the back of the book with a little more detail on some of the concepts presented. Highly recommended for elementary and middle school science classes, and for every single curious kid who loves to ask why.
The former biology teacher in me is super impressed by this. LaRocca broke down the concepts of genetics, how DNA makes humans distinct from animals and both similar and different from each other in vocabulary that is both scientifically accurate AND easy for kids to grasp. I really like how she ended the book too, with a challenge that DNA determines certain things but you choose what you do with what you are genetically given and the kind of attitude you have and citizen you are. Oh, and she managed to do all that in rhyme too. Pretty amazing. The illustrations are cute and complement the concepts well, often letting the text be presented in artsy ways. There's further information in the back of the book with a little more detail on some of the concepts presented. Highly recommended for elementary and middle school science classes, and for every single curious kid who loves to ask why.
July 19, 2022
Rajani LaRocca is a woman on fire! She has just the right words to use to explain different medical concepts to younger readers. In this case, it is DNA.
Comparing animals together, she uses rhyming text to explain the thing that makes each one have our own unique characteristics: DNA (or deoxyribonucleic acid). Step-by-step she unpacks this difficult concept, then puts it back together in a way that youngsters will comprehend. She closes with 2 pages of interesting facts and 2 pages of a fun science experiment to actually see clumps of DNA.
Digital (?) illustrations by Steven Salerno are cheerful, bright, and colorful. Animals and people are actively moving, with action aplenty. Good use of space and item placement on each 2-page spread.
Great to use in early study on this concept. Highly Recommended for PreSchool-grade 3.
Comparing animals together, she uses rhyming text to explain the thing that makes each one have our own unique characteristics: DNA (or deoxyribonucleic acid). Step-by-step she unpacks this difficult concept, then puts it back together in a way that youngsters will comprehend. She closes with 2 pages of interesting facts and 2 pages of a fun science experiment to actually see clumps of DNA.
Digital (?) illustrations by Steven Salerno are cheerful, bright, and colorful. Animals and people are actively moving, with action aplenty. Good use of space and item placement on each 2-page spread.
Great to use in early study on this concept. Highly Recommended for PreSchool-grade 3.
June 23, 2022
When my kids were little, they often had questions about why they looked a certain way compared to each other or other relatives. While we talked a lot about genes, I wish we had had Rajani LaRocca's The Secret Code Inside You! Told entirely in rhyme, LaRocca makes the science of DNA and genetics both interesting and easy to understand for youg children, while illustrator Steven Salerno cleverly incorporates double helix patterns from page to page, making the story just as visually engaging. What I love most about this book, however, is that is gives the child reader agency, emphasizing that while genes may determine many things about our bodies, we also get to make our own choices about who and what we become. Highly recommended!
June 15, 2022
This delightful read aloud explain DNA to the youngest readers. LaRocca's rhymes are full of kid-friendly examples, helping kids understand this complicated concept. Still, LaRocca shows readers that genes are not our destiny. We still choose what we do with what we're given, thanks to our "awesome brains." It's a great message for all of us to remember. Salerno's colorful illustrations provide information that adds to the text, providing wonderful detail and allowing the text to remain simple and streamlined.
March 29, 2022
This book introduces DNA, cells, and genetics to the youngest of readers. Set to rhyme, it explains how we are different from animals and unique from one another, because of our DNA and genetics from our biological parents and their parents before them. However, who we are is not wholly dependent on our biology, but on what we choose to do with ourselves. Our eyes are a result of genetics but what we choose to look at and see is up to us.
Loved this book!
Loved this book!
December 6, 2021
Opening with questions about why we aren't fuzzy, can't breathe underwater, or see clearly in the dark, the book uses fun illustrations and fascinating graphics to look at our cells and the "secret codes" or DNA that makes all living things what they are. Back matter with "DNA Facts," accessible websites, and a banana experiment round out this fun book.
March 27, 2022
Rhyming text talks about you, cells, DNA, and proteins.
It feels pretty high level, so probably better for awareness than actual information.
I'd say that this is aimed at lower-to-middle elementary.
The "experiment" at the end where you get to see banana DNA is pretty detailed for the young crowd, but doable with a good bit of parental help.
It feels pretty high level, so probably better for awareness than actual information.
I'd say that this is aimed at lower-to-middle elementary.
The "experiment" at the end where you get to see banana DNA is pretty detailed for the young crowd, but doable with a good bit of parental help.
December 29, 2021
Learning about DNA can be very complex; this picture book by Rajani LaRocca provides an explanation about genetics through rhyme. There is also back matter and and experiment for readers to engage in additional learning on this topic.
February 17, 2022
Rajani LaRocca might just be my new favorite author. I loved that she could write about DNA in pitch perfect rhyme. The accompanying illustrations are beautiful and joyous. Excellent backmatter as well. Highly recommend.
November 4, 2021
This book, explaining DNA in a simplified form, is a wonderful way to teach children the concepts of why they are who they are physically.
January 4, 2022
Wonderfully written book with the back pages having more details.
July 19, 2022
Easy to understand about dna
February 20, 2025
This will be great for Preschool STEAM
February 11, 2022
This book! I’m not sure how Rajani LaRocca conceived, let alone wrote, a RHYMING book about DNA, genes, and chromosomes, but she did and it works so well! After an explanation that DNA is a code that tells your cells what to be and do, and that’s why you’re you and not a frog or a kangaroo, the author explains how genes and chromosomes are inherited from parents and previous generations. Most importantly, though, the book concludes with the sentiment that your DNA doesn’t control you. As the text says, “It gives you muscles small or large but YOU choose how to move. You skip, or jump, or flip, or roll. You dance to your own groove.” Lively illustrations throughout the book by Steven Salerno create a sense of the vibrant world, and I loved the double-helix theme and spirals hidden on almost every page. The back matter is wonderful with fascinating DNA facts and a super cool experiment with a banana. This book is perfect for the elementary STEM bookshelf!
November 2, 2021
the simple rhyming text provides a first-introduction to the concepts (and workings) of DNA in human and other life forms, with illustrations that enhance the informational text effectively. This offers an effect first encounter with the underlying codes of living cells, and a simple approach to explain how these arrive inside us, shape our development, and direct the NATURE of our lives. There is an important nod to the NURTURE and CHOICE sides of human growth and development.
The back matter experiment to visualize an accumulation of DNA extracted from a banana is somewhat confusing, since it simply indicates ways in which components of cells can be separated, and why that happens. Your younger readers this may suggest that DNA is observable blobs, despite the author's clear statement that the actual DNA must be viewed through microscopic technology.
The back matter experiment to visualize an accumulation of DNA extracted from a banana is somewhat confusing, since it simply indicates ways in which components of cells can be separated, and why that happens. Your younger readers this may suggest that DNA is observable blobs, despite the author's clear statement that the actual DNA must be viewed through microscopic technology.
February 24, 2023
This book tries to explain the concept of DNA to young kids in an engaging way using rhyme. But most of the text can basically be summarized as “DNA is what makes you you” (LaRocca cites different traits etc to make this basic point). When it gets to the really technical bits of what DNA actually is, I’m not sure the use of rhyme is helpful in breaking down the concept for young kids:
“The secret code inside you
Is split up into genes
Unraveled and decoded
They’re used to make protein
….
Each biological parent
Gave you half your chromosomes
And on those special forty-six
Your genes all make their homes”
For a young kid, this raises more questions than it answers. Genes? Unraveled and decoded? Biological? Forty-six? Chromosomes?
“The secret code inside you
Is split up into genes
Unraveled and decoded
They’re used to make protein
….
Each biological parent
Gave you half your chromosomes
And on those special forty-six
Your genes all make their homes”
For a young kid, this raises more questions than it answers. Genes? Unraveled and decoded? Biological? Forty-six? Chromosomes?
June 25, 2022
A fantastic book. I was quite impressed with how she was able to rhyme a book about DNA. I loved the story it told, it really brings things down simply to a child's understanding. I also loved the end where it talked about how you still have the choice to choose what to do with your life, your DNA only dictates so much. I also love the explicit language of how DNA comes from biological parents, that's not excluding children who may not know their biological parents. And I appreciated the diversity in the book, so once again it was inclusive for many, of not all, kids. I'd read this book again.
October 21, 2021
A fun and educational book with springy rhymes, delightful illustrations, and interesting back matter. I may be an adult without any children, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to try that banana DNA experiment included in the back of the book.
I would have liked to see the anatomy of the cell labeled in the back matter; however, it was fun for me to impress myself by identifying the nucleus, the soma, mitochondria, and Golgi bodies and then checking on the internet to make sure it was right. Shout out to my teachers because I'm amazed I still remember.
I would have liked to see the anatomy of the cell labeled in the back matter; however, it was fun for me to impress myself by identifying the nucleus, the soma, mitochondria, and Golgi bodies and then checking on the internet to make sure it was right. Shout out to my teachers because I'm amazed I still remember.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews