How to Build a Human by Pamela S. Turner is a great introduction to evolution, geared for younger readers. However, all ages will enjoy the informative humor to be found within its pages.

When I was young, I was taught a literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation at church and was never taught much about the remains of early humans in school. So although this book was written for young readers, I actually read it to fill in gaps in my knowledge. Overall, I really appreciated Turner's presentation of the various finds and how she shows what scientists try to extrapolate from remains they've found. This is also the problem with the book: she extrapolates into the area of religion, suggesting a non-supernatural reason why early people began to believe in gods. This is fine, but she doesn't leave room for another explanation that many people around the world believe, including many scientists, that people believe in God because God exists. So, I recommend this with reservations. I'm still trying to find a well-written, scientifically accurate account of early humans that also recognizes God as creator.

I often tell my first-year college students that when they start out doing research, they should begin not with the academic journals, which so many of them do, and not with the newspaper or magazine articles, but with books written for young readers. Because what they want is something that is brief, broad, shallow but informative, easy to understand. Something that strips out the overwhelming details and provides them a strong foundational understanding of the major points so that when they do eventually research more deeply, the details will make a lot more sense to them, will be “fitted into” an intellectual framework they’ve constructed for themselves. I add as well that they are lucky in that they’re currently living in a golden age of non-fiction for young readers, not only in terms of quantity but quality as well.

Exhibit A for all the above? How to Build a Human: In Seven Evolutionary Steps by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by John Gurche. Aimed at 10-12-year-olds, and perfectly pitched for that age group, it’s also a fantastic book for not just older kids but adults as well. (And yes, if any college students out there are planning a paper on human evolution, this is where you should start).

You can get an immediate sense of Turner’s wittily engaging (but not overly jokey) tone from the table of contents, which list the seven steps as
• We Stand Up
• We Smash Rocks
• We Get Swelled Heads
• We Take a Hike
• We Invent Barbecue
• We Start Talking (and Never Shut Up)
• We Become Storytellers

That same sense of light humor is present in her introduction, where she points out that had aliens shown up 3 million years ago looking for “the brainiest species on Earth for their intergalactic zoo”, it wouldn’t have been us they would have left with, but dolphins (and for some times after that as well).

After zooming through early life in a paragraph (self-copying molecules to single-celled “blobs” to multi-cellular blobs and so on up to primates), she closes the introduction with a brief but effective foray into how evolution works. The takeaway she points to as most important is “the environment tests and the environment selects.” Beyond anatomical and social evolution, Turner’s subjects include the evolution of toolmaking and language, the use of fire, the migration out of Africa, the development of art, the impact of climate change on our development, the fallacy of race, and more.

From there it’s onto the first of the seven steps, which involve the shift to bipedalism, with Turner carefully laying out the evidence for the gradual steps it took to get to where we are now, as well as the fossil evidence from both bones and footprints, with stop-offs at some of the best known found remains such as Ardi (4.5 MYA) and Lucy (3.2 MYA). At the end of the section, Turner tells how scientists discovered “a lustrous red-brown rock now known as the Makapansgat Pebble” beside some Autralopithecus africanus fossils. A rock may not sound all that exciting, but the thing about this particular one is that it came from several miles away and was not used as a tool. In other words, it appears someone liked the way it looked, picked it up, and carried it “home” (something I’ve done myself, not to mention many more times as the parent of a small child who had me fill my pockets with “neat rocks” after every hike). Turner wonders “Did that Australopith see what we see” Then notes, “The Australopiths were not human. Yet his pebble whispers of what they might become.”

This chapter encapsulates the many strengths that run throughout the book’s 112 pages, Concision. Clarity. A level of detail that informs without confusing or overwhelming. A sense of story. An honest appraisal of what is known for certain, theorized, debated, or wholly beyond our ability to ken. A gentle humor. And, as the lines at the end indicate, a sense of empathy, of shared humanity that would be welcome no matter the target audience but is especially so in a work aimed at younger readers.

Beyond the excellence of Turner’s content and style, the book is replete with fantastic visuals: imagined images of our ancient ancestors, maps, the aforementioned Pebble, fossil skulls and other bones, helpful side-by-side visuals making it easier to understand the anatomical differences being noted, photos of discovered tools and artwork, and, at the end, a beautiful and moving series of photographs showing how “Around 40, 000 years ago … in Indonesia, someone pressed their hand against the wall of a cave … [and] blew an ochre mixture around their hand. Later, in a cave in Spain, someone else did the same. People in Australia did it, too. So did people in Africa. And so did the first Americans.” Moving from image to image was a lump-in-the-throat moment for me.

Finally, the text is followed by nearly 50 pages of notes, a fuller list of Hominins, further reading recommendations, timelines, a glossary, and an index.

I absolutely loved this book. If you’re young and just entering the fascinating world of human evolution, you couldn’t start in a better place. If you’re older and are also just starting out, the same holds true — as noted in my intro, this will give you the strong easy-to-grasp understanding of the big picture you’ll want before wading out into deeper and more treacherous waters. And if, like me, you’ve read a lot on the topic already, this is a great refresher resource, something that makes it easier to hold all those details in your mind under an overarching big picture. Highly, highly recommended.

While this book examines seven steps in human evolution with clarity and intriguing detail, its great strength is the compelling voice of the author whose original thoughts, humor and delight in sharing this information shines through the entire book. Also deserving of note are the fascinating photos, artwork, and additional back matter. A title that merits thoughtful reading and sharing.

An engaging book about the human origin.

I found this book to be very interesting. It was a book about human history, the evolution, the how, and when and why the human: stood up, smashed rocks, got swelled heads, took a hike, invented barbecue, started talking; and never shut up (lol), and became storytellers.

If you are interested in reading and learning about the <i>homo sapiens</i> story through the years, this book will be a perfect read. I really liked how it was explained simply, and not with an overly difficult explanations, since I’m not an expert on the subject, just a curious reader. A great journey through the evolutionary journey.

I loved this book. The book is geared towards younger readers, ages 10-13, according to the book’s entry in amazon.com. I am well, well beyond any definition of a younger reader, but to me this is a great strength of the book. It is a concise look at human evolution, without getting into the details that a lot of other books do, such as the backgrounds of the scientists involved and who discovered what. The writing is conversational and clever, with lots of humor. The footnotes are well-worth reading as well. There are several maps for clarity and lots of great portraits. But don’t stop reading at the end of the conclusion. After the conclusion are several sections well worth reading, including the author’s notes and a list of hominins. This is a great book for younger or older people who want a snappy look at human evolution. Thank you to Netgalley and Charlesbridge for the advance reader copy.

Synergy: Human Evolution

Human evolution is the long process of change from now-extinct primates to a distinct species of hominid, the Homo sapien. All humans originated from ape-like ancestors that evolved over six million years.

Read the recently published nonfiction book for youth then learn more at the website.

HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN IN SEVEN EVOLUTIONARY STEPS by Pamela S. Turner mixes science with humor to tell the story of human evolution. In seven chapters focusing on the unique aspects of human development, Turner shares the story of how, when, and why we became human. Maps, photographs, and other illustrations along with a conversational approach to storytelling contribute to a fun-filled way to learn about human evolution. The book includes an author’s note, dating information, a glossary, timeline, a list of hominin members, resources, and more.

The HUMAN ORIGINS PROGRAM website from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History features exhibits, research, multimedia resources, and educational materials related to human evolution and related areas of science.

To visit the website, go to https://humanorigins.si.edu/.

ARC courtesy of Charlesbridge.