An illustration by Henry Paker of a man being operated on before anaesthetic had been discovered. He is screaming whilst the three surgeons pull out his intestines using a pickaxe and rusty saw

Article-Card-Kays-Marvellous-Medicine.jpg

Fun facts

5 major medical moments from history

An illustration by Henry Paker of a man with his pants down in front of a toilet, getting ready to fight the germ that has slithered out with a plunger

KA-Extract-V3.png

Kay’s Kwestions: answers to your questions about the human body

Kay's Anatomy: The Poo-tastic Puzzle Book

From the record-breaking, Number One bestselling author of KAY'S ANATOMY comes the funniest, most fact-filled and most disgusting activity book about the body ever written! 
 
This new Adam Kay activity book contains over 500 hilarious, disgusting activities - codes to crack, experiments, recipes and more, including 144 all-new "True or Poo" quiz questions! 
<ul><li>Do you know your patella from your paella? 
</li><li>Have you ever tasted phlegm soup? 
</li><li>Want to learn how to bunk off school with a fake plaster cast? 
</li></ul> 
It’s guaranteed to challenge, entertain and revolt readers aged 7 to 739. 
 
Adam Kay’s children’s books have been translated into 32 languages and sold over 1 million copies, making him one of the UK’s bestselling children’s authors. Kay’s Anatomy became the fastest-selling children’s general non-fiction hardback of the decade and his first children’s novel, Dexter Procter the 10-Year-Old Doctor, was the No. 1 children’s hardback fiction debut of 2025. 
 
Praise for Kay's Anatomy: 
'An enjoyably gross look at the human body. Hours of gruesome fun guaranteed' i 
'Like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about' Sunday Times 
'Totally brilliant!' Jacqueline Wilson 
'Fun and informative' Malorie Blackman 
'Very funny - this exciting book is bound to inspire the next generation of medics' Sunday Express 
 
Praise for Kay's Marvellous Medicine: 
'A ridiculously funny read that will delight, gross out and educate all at the same time' Independent 
'Educational and entertaining. It should be on the national curriculum!' Harry Hill 
'Completely marvellous and very funny' BookTrust

Adam Kay (Author) Adam Kay is a former doctor who has written five million books and sold seven copies. No, hang on – he’s written seven books and sold five million copies. His debut book, This is Going to Hurt, is a literary sensation: a Sunday Times number one bestseller for over a year, winning a record-breaking four National Book Awards and selling over 3 million copies. Kay adapted This is Going to Hurt as a BAFTA-winning comedy-drama series for the BBC. Adam Kay’s children’s books have been translated into 32 languages and sold over 1 million copies, making him one of the UK’s bestselling children’s authors. Kay’s Anatomy became the fastest-selling children’s general non-fiction hardback of the decade. His first picture book, Amy Gets Eaten, was published in 2023, and his first children’s novel, Dexter Procter the Ten-Year-Old Doctor, was published in September 2024. Henry Paker (Illustrator) Henry Paker was once a little boy who did silly doodles in the margins of books. Now he is a grown man who does silly doodles in the middle of books. He is an award-winning comedian, writer and illustrator. He co-writes and performs in the Radio 4 sitcom ReincarNathan and co-hosts the Three Bean Salad podcast. Henry has illustrated all of Adam Kay's children's books.

Contains over 500 hilarious, disgusting activities - codes to crack, experiments, recipes and more, including 144 all-new "True or Poo" quiz questions!<ul><li>Do you know your patella from your paella?</li><li>Have you ever tasted phlegm soup?</li><li>Want to learn how to bunk off school with a fake plaster cast?</li></ul> 
From the record-breaking, Number One bestselling author of KAY'S ANATOMY comes the funniest, most fact-filled and most disgusting activity book about the body ever written. Guaranteed to challenge, entertain and revolt readers aged 7 to 739.

Simon Gets Sneezed

The hilarious new picture book from the record-breaking Adam Kay and Henry Paker. 
Meet Simon. Simon is the hero of this story. But unlike most heroes in most stories, Simon is a piece of snot. He lives with his family in the left nostril of a girl called Phoebe. 
 
Follow Simon on his hilarious and extremely slimy adventure as he learns about everything snot does to protect our bodies – a fascinating and uplifting journey of self-discovery about how brilliant and important he really is. 
 
Praise for Amy Gets Eaten - Winner of The Week Junior Children's Picture Book of the Year Award 2024 
'Frank and funny [...] Perfect for potty training and beyond' The Guardian 
'This book will have you chuckling throughout - and amidst the laughter, it's still very much an educational read' The Independent 
'A fun fact-filled journey through the human digestive system!' The Week Junior 
'Gross (but amazingly anatomically accurate!)' Lancashire Post 
Praise for Kay's Anatomy: 
'An enjoyably gross look at the human body. Hours of gruesome fun guaranteed' i 
'Like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about' Sunday Times 
'Totally brilliant!' Jacqueline Wilson 
'Fun and informative' Malorie Blackman 
'Very funny - this exciting book is bound to inspire the next generation of medics' Sunday Express 
 
Praise for Kay's Marvellous Medicine: 
'A ridiculously funny read that will delight, gross out and educate all at the same time' Independent 
'Educational and entertaining. It should be on the national curriculum!' Harry Hill 
'Completely marvellous and very funny' BookTrust

The hilarious new picture book from the record-breaking Adam Kay and Henry Paker. 
Meet Simon. Simon is the hero of this story. But unlike most heroes in most stories, Simon is a piece of snot. He lives with his family in the left nostril of a girl called Phoebe. 
 
Follow Simon on his hilarious and extremely slimy adventure as he learns about everything snot does to protect our bodies – a fascinating and uplifting journey of self-discovery as Simon discovers how brilliant and important he really is. 
Praise for Amy Gets Eaten - Winner of The Week Junior Children's Picture Book of the Year Award 2024 
'Frank and funny [...] Perfect for potty training and beyond' The Guardian 
'This book will have you chuckling throughout - and amidst the laughter, it's still very much an educational read' The Independent 
'A fun fact-filled journey through the human digestive system!' The Week Junior 
'Gross (but amazingly anatomically accurate!)' Lancashire Post 
 
Praise for Kay's Anatomy: 
'An enjoyably gross look at the human body. Hours of gruesome fun guaranteed' i 
'Like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about' Sunday Times 
'Totally brilliant!' Jacqueline Wilson 
'Fun and informative' Malorie Blackman 
'Very funny - this exciting book is bound to inspire the next generation of medics' Sunday Express 
 
Praise for Kay's Marvellous Medicine: 
'A ridiculously funny read that will delight, gross out and educate all at the same time' Independent 
'Educational and entertaining. It should be on the national curriculum!' Harry Hill 
'Completely marvellous and very funny' BookTrust

A fascinating and fantastically funny guide to inventions that changed the world (and some that definitely didn't)

Kay’s Incredible Inventions

Winner of the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2025 (non-fiction) 
 
Do you ever wonder where the stuff around you all came from? No, not from eBay. I mean, who had the amazing idea of making a mobile phone or the annoying idea of building a school? For example, did you know that Velcro was invented by a dog and WiFi by a movie star? (Spoiler alert - it wasn’t Zendaya.) 
 
In the fourth laugh-out-loud book from Adam Kay and Henry Paker, you’ll learn all about the coolest, grossest and most ridiculous inventions in the world. You’ll meet the queen who used the first ever toilet, learn why margarine used to be full of maggots and find out why Ancient Greeks wiped their bums on dinner plates. Oh, and hopefully some slightly more useful facts as well… 
 
An A to Kay to Z of the random, ridiculous and revolutionary inventions that changed our lives. (And some that definitely didn't . . .) 
 
 
Praise for Kay's Anatomy: 
'An enjoyably gross look at the human body. Hours of gruesome fun guaranteed' i 
'Like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about' Sunday Times 
'Totally brilliant!' Jacqueline Wilson 
'Fun and informative' Malorie Blackman 
'Very funny - this exciting book is bound to inspire the next generation of medics' Sunday Express 
 
Praise for Kay's Marvellous Medicine: 
'A ridiculously funny read that will delight, gross out and educate all at the same time' Independent 
'Educational and entertaining. It should be on the national curriculum!' Harry Hill 
'Completely marvellous and very funny' BookTrust

My (Illustrated) Autobiography

Joe Wilkinson

Absurd, irreverent and occasionally poignant, this is the illustrated 'autobiography' from one of the UK's most eccentric and endearing comedians.

One of the funniest things I’ve ever read. It is brilliant.

You have in your hands the best book in the world, full of shit-hot stories from scintillating life.There were a few the suits upstairs didn't want me to put in, but I said 'Up yours' to the suits upstairs and I put them in anyway. I'm the bee's knees and you're about to find out why. 
 
I also wanted to show the world that I'm not just a smashing-looking guy with lovely high cheekbones. I talk openly and honestly about living with unusually wide areolas, my addiction to airbags and why I fell out with Bigfoot. I think this will make you warm to me even more. You'll also be incredibly impressed by how little I've achieved in my life - I'm still only in my late forties. And I felt like I had to impart a few of the nuggets of wisdom that I've gleaned over the years, like why you should never throw a turd into a tornado. 
 
But I must admit that I couldn't be arsed to write it all down so I got Henry Paker to draw it for me . I'm physically stronger than him, so he had to.

Joe Wilkinson (Author) 
Joe Wilkinson is a regular figure on Kent's Sunday morning car boot sale scene, both as a vendor and a patron. He's ridden several bicycles and can put his fist in his mouth. He's never owned, read or written a book in his life. 
 
He is also an award-winning comedian and has been a fixture on our television screens for over a decade. Making regular appearances on shows such as 8 Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown, Have I Got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, he is regarded as one of the finest and most surreal comedians on the circuit. 
 
As an actor, he has starred in hit shows such as Him & Her, Miranda, Derek, Afterlife, Sex Education, The Cockfields and Rovers. 
 
Henry Paker (Illustrator) 
Henry Paker was once a little boy who did silly doodles in the margins of books. Now he is a grown man who does silly doodles in the middle of books. He is an award-winning comedian, writer and illustrator. He co-writes and performs in the Radio 4 sitcom ReincarNathan and co-hosts the Three Bean Salad podcast. Henry has illustrated all of Adam Kay's children's books.

‘Joyfully absurd and hilarious.’ ADAM KAY 
'One of the funniest things I’ve ever read. It is brilliant.' CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN 
 
Here before you is Joe Wilkinson's brilliantly absurd and utterly fictional account of his time on - and briefly off - planet Earth. 
 
Through cartoon stories (illustrated by Henry Paker) Joe recounts the defining moments and bizarre encounters of his imaginary life – from his schoolboy misfortunes to his formative years on the dating scene, to his money-making schemes and globetrotting adventures. 
 
With tall stories including… 
 
-Winning ‘most nits’ at school 
-That time I threw a turd into a tornado 
-Becoming the bad boy of fly tipping 
-The disastrous double date 
-My car airbag addiction 
-The time I tunnelled too far out of prison and ended up in the prison next door 
-The real reason Bigfoot went into hiding 
 
…this book is a delightfully absurd journey into the mind of a comic maverick. 
 
Hilarious, heart-warming and utterly unique, Joe Wilkinson: My Autobiography is the off-the-wall life story of one of our most beloved and unorthodox comedians.

The laugh-out-loud picture book from bestselling Adam Kay and Henry Paker

Amy Gets Eaten

The first-ever picture book from Adam Kay and Henry Paker - now Children’s Picture Book of The Year 2024 – The Week Junior Book Awards! 
 
The judges said: “This poo-filled picture book [...] reveals scientific facts in an engaging, silly and original way, with lots of icky illustrations to add to the fun.” 
 
This is the hilarious (and admittedly a tiny bit gross) tale of Amy, a small piece of sweetcorn who is eaten by Noah, a medium-sized boy. The story follows Amy on her funny, gooey and anatomically-accurate adventure through the human body as she discovers lots of facts about digestion. (It's fair to say that parents might learn a little bit too.) 
 
Praise for Kay's Anatomy: 
'An enjoyably gross look at the human body. Hours of gruesome fun guaranteed' i 
'Like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about' Sunday Times 
'Totally brilliant!' Jacqueline Wilson 
'Fun and informative' Malorie Blackman 
'Very funny - this exciting book is bound to inspire the next generation of medics' Sunday Express 
 
Praise for Kay's Marvellous Medicine: 
'A ridiculously funny read that will delight, gross out and educate all at the same time' Independent 
'Educational and entertaining. It should be on the national curriculum!' Harry Hill 
'Completely marvellous and very funny' BookTrust

A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body

Kay's Anatomy

THE RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER FROM THE UK'S BESTSELLING NON-FICTION AUTHOR. 
 
Discover all the weird and wonderful things that go on inside your body with Adam Kay. This fun-filled anatomy book for kids covers key stage 2 / 3 human biology syllabus (in a slightly repulsive way). 
 
'Hilarious and fascinating! I wish Adam had been my biology teacher' - Konnie Huq 
 
Do you ever think about your body and how it all works? 
Like really properly think about it? 
 
 
The human body is extraordinary and fascinating and, well . . . pretty weird. Yours is weird, mine is weird, your maths teacher's is even weirder. 
 
This book is going to tell you what's actually going on in there, and answer the really important questions, like: 
 
Are bogeys safe to eat? 
Look, if your nose is going to all that effort of creating a snack, the least we can do is check out its nutritional value. (Yes, they're safe. Chew away!) 
 
And how much of your life will you spend on the toilet? 
 
About a year - so bring a good book. (I recommend this one.) 
 
So sit back, relax, put on some rubber gloves, and let a doctor take you on a poo (and puke) filled tour of your insides. Welcome to Kay's Anatomy*. 
 
*a fancy word for your body. See, you're learning already. 
 
 
 
Discover why readers love Kay's Anatomy: 
 
 
 
'The sort of book I would have loved as a child' - Malorie Blackman 
 
'Like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about' - The Times 
 
'Absolutely packed with facts... Entertaining and highly informative' - Daily Mail 
 
'As brilliant, and revolting, as the human body it celebrates' - The i newspaper 
 
'Totally brilliant!' - Jacqueline Wilson 
 
'If only this funny and informative book had been around when I was too embarrassed to teach my kids about bodily functions' - David Baddiel

[An] enjoyably gross look at the human body. Hours of gruesome fun guaranteed.

...it is like listening to a teacher who makes pupils fall about

Kay's Anatomy is totally brilliant - it's ultra child-friendly and chatty, and any young reader will learn a great deal about the body as they chuckle through each chapter.

Perfect for days of home-schooling!

It's fun and informative and just the sort of book I would've loved as a child. And I loved the True or Poo sections!

If only this funny and informative book had been around when I was too embarrassed to teach my kids about bodily functions

Hilarious and fascinating! I wish Adam had been my biology teacher

Packed with anatomical facts - and very funny - this exciting book is bound to inspire the next generation of medics

This is brilliant. I'm not jealous that I didn't write it at all. No, not one little bit.

Much funnier and more informative and more gross than Gray's Anatomy... I highly recommend for anyone

Do you ever think about your body and how it all works? Like really properly think about it? 
 
The human body is extraordinary and fascinating and, well... pretty weird. Yours is weird, mine is weird, your maths teacher's is even weirder. 
 
This book is going to tell you what's actually going on in there, and answer the really important questions, like: 
 
Are bogeys safe to eat? Look, if your nose is going to all that effort of creating a snack, the least we can do is check out its nutritional value. (Yes, they're safe. Chew away!) 
 
 And . . . 
 
 How much of your life will you spend on the toilet? About a year - so bring a good book. (I recommend this one.) 
 
So sit back, relax, put on some rubber gloves, and let a doctor take you on a poo- and puke-filled tour of your insides. Welcome to Kay's Anatomy*. 
 
*a fancy word for your body. See, you're learning already.

Dexter Procter and the Case of the Disappearing Doctor

All is not well in the world with Dexter Procter, the world's youngest doctor. 
 
His granny has broken her leg, his friends Rupi and Otto have been expelled, there's an asthma epidemic he can't get on top of, and everything fun at the hospital has been shut down by slimy politician Barbara Burnhall. And then his boss Dr Marigold disappears off the face of the earth! But what Dexter doesn't realize is that he and his friends are about to uncover a dastardly plot featuring kidnap, earthquakes and a runaway ambulance. Dexter Procter doesn't know what's about to hit him. (Spoiler alert: it's a runaway ambulance.) 
 
Adam Kay and Henry Paker have created a second Dexter mystery that is funnier, more ambitious and even more disgusting than the first book (and that was pretty disgusting). 
 
Dexter Procter and the Case of the Disappearing Doctor is soon to be a major BBC show.

Adam Kay

Henry Paker

The highly-acclaimed, No. 1-bestselling children's fiction debut from Adam Kay - and soon to be TV special from the BBC! 
 
It was clear from an early age that Dexter Procter was different. 
 
He started speaking at four seconds old. By the age of three, he had 87 A-levels, from Afrikaans to Zoology. 
 
And by ten, he was working as a paediatrician at Lilydale General Hospital. 
 
Despite a loving but annoying family and a couple of good friends (Rupi and Otto), Dexter’s always struggled to fit in. Add to this a mortal enemy (Dr Drake) and a major problem at his old school (all the teachers struck down with awful diarrhoea) – will Dexter be able to save his job, save the school and find his place in the world? (Spoiler alert: yes!) 
 
A laugh-out-loud new fiction series about the world's youngest doctor from the record-breaking Adam Kay and Henry Paker. 
 
'Original, very funny, ultra-informative - and children will love all the disgusting parts.’ Jacqueline Wilson 
 
'If laughter truly is the best medicine, book this hilarious appointment with Dr Procter immediately.' David Baddiel

Dexter Procter the 10-Year-Old Doctor

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

Henry Paker

Books by Henry Paker

Series by Henry Paker

Dexter Procter

Articles featuring Henry Paker

5 major medical moments from history

Kay’s Kwestions: answers to your questions about the human body

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter