Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack

by Stacy McAnulty

A zombie chef-scientist serves up the wonders of the human brain in a funny, fact-packed tour.

Big Idea

Your brain is an incredible organ that helps you think, learn, move, feel, and grow. Taking care of it helps you live a curious, active life.

Discussion Questions

1.Why does the author compare brains with zombie stories?
2.What are three important jobs the brain performs?
3.Which brain fact surprised you the most?
4.Why is the brain considered the body's control center?
5.How do neurons help the brain communicate?
6.Why is it important to wear helmets during certain activities?
7.How does humor make learning easier?

Classroom Activity

Amazing Brain Poster

Create an informational poster showing your favorite brain: major parts, their functions, interesting facts, illustrations, and labels.

Lesson Plan

⏱ 40 minutes📦 Poster paper, markers, reference books or devices

Learning Goals

Identify three major functions of the brain
Create an informational poster about a favorite brain part

Activity Steps

1.Read the story aloud, listing brain facts on the board.
2.Discuss: 'Which fact surprised you most?'
3.Model a poster showing one brain part and its function.
4.Students create their own brain poster.
5.Gallery walk to share posters.

Standards Connections

ELA: RL.1.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details
ELA: RL.1.2 — Retell stories, including key details
ELA: RL.1.3 — Describe characters, setting, and events
ELA: RL.4.6 — Acknowledge differences in characters' points of view
ELA: SL.1.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations about the text
ELA: W.1.3 — Write narratives recounting events with descriptive details
SEL: Social Awareness
SEL: Relationship Skills
Art: VA:Re7 — Perceive and analyze artistic work

Pace-Write-Read Study with Pace-Write It!

Focus question: How does an author make information feel exciting, funny, and easy to follow? In Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack by Stacy McAnulty, a silly zombie chef-scientist guides readers through facts about the human brain with humor, direct talk, and energetic page-by-page reveals. The pacing moves quickly with jokes, questions, visual surprises, and short bursts of information that help readers stay curious while learning.

Element	How to notice or teach it in the novel
Pace	Read: Notice how Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack moves in quick, lively chunks as the zombie chef-scientist introduces one brain fact at a time instead of giving everything at once. Classroom Activity: Write 4 short fact boxes about an amazing body part, with each box revealing one new idea in a fast, playful order.
Plot	Read: Even though this is fact-filled, the book has a loose story line because the zombie host seems to be serving up a tour of the brain like a cooking show or mad-science presentation. Classroom Activity: Plan a beginning, middle, and end for an informational piece in which a funny guide introduces facts as if giving a show.
Prosody	Read: Listen for places where the words sound bouncy, dramatic, or announcer-like, matching the goofy zombie voice and making facts sound exciting. Classroom Activity: Choose 3 sentences about the brain and rewrite them to sound dramatic when read aloud.
Word pause	Read: Notice where a surprising word, joke, or fact makes you stop for a moment before reading on, especially when the zombie host says something gross or silly. Classroom Activity: Write 3 sentences that each use one strong word at the end to create a pause and a grin.
Concept	Read: The big concept is that brains are powerful, busy, and important—not just food for zombies—so the humor supports real learning about brainpower. Classroom Activity: Write a main idea statement and 3 supporting facts for a book page called Not Just a ______.
Voice & World View	Read: The voice is playful, quirky, and a little spooky, but it clearly admires the human brain and invites readers to feel amazed by it. Classroom Activity: Write a paragraph about something ordinary from the point of view of a creature who thinks it is extraordinary.
Setting & Place	Read: Notice how the book’s science-show and zombie-kitchen feel create a fun place for learning, even when the pages focus on the brain itself. Classroom Activity: Invent a setting for teaching facts, such as a pirate lab or robot bakery, and write 5 facts that match that place.
Point of View	Read: Pay attention to how the book’s speaker talks directly to the reader, making the information feel like a conversation instead of a lecture. Classroom Activity: Write 4 facts using you, your, and direct questions to pull the reader in.
Original Characters	Read: The zombie chef-scientist is an unusual and memorable character because he mixes creepy humor with real science facts. Classroom Activity: Create an original fact-guide character and write a character card with name, job, personality, and favorite fact topic.
Dialogue	Read: Notice how the speaking style feels like the zombie host is chatting with the audience, even when exact back-and-forth dialogue is limited. Classroom Activity: Write a short exchange between a silly guide and a curious kid about how the brain helps the body.
Details	Read: The book includes specific brain facts that make the topic feel real and fascinating, rather than vague or general. Classroom Activity: Write 5 precise details about a body part or animal and make each detail teach something new.
Descriptions	Read: Watch how descriptions of the brain’s jobs are kept simple, vivid, and kid-friendly so hard science ideas stay clear and fun. Classroom Activity: Describe what a brain does using action words that a first- through fourth-grader can picture.
Strong First Lines	Read: Think about how the opening quickly grabs attention by mixing zombies, brains, and humor right away. Classroom Activity: Write 3 different opening lines for a nonfiction picture book that surprise the reader in the first sentence.
Immediacy & Engagement	Read: The book feels immediate because the zombie narrator speaks as if the reader is right there at the demonstration, ready to react. Classroom Activity: Write 4 lines that make your reader feel present by using now, look, imagine, or watch.
Story Scenes & Summaries & Unique Structures	Read: Notice how the book blends mini-scenes of the zombie host presenting with summary-style fact sections, creating a fresh nonfiction-fiction mix. Classroom Activity: Write one mini-scene and one fact-summary about the same topic, then put them together on a page.
Flashback & Flash Forward & Cliffhangers	Read: Although the book is mostly in the present, some page turns make readers wonder what fact or joke is coming next, almost like a mini-cliffhanger. Classroom Activity: End 3 fact-page drafts with a teasing line that makes readers want to turn the page.
Tension & Suspense & Surprise	Read: The surprise comes from the mismatch between a brain-hungry zombie and a book that celebrates and explains the brain instead of eating it. Classroom Activity: Write a surprising contrast sentence that begins with a creature or character expected to do one thing but does another.
Page Turns and Chapter Breaks	Read: Notice how page turns help deliver punch lines, new facts, and visual reveals in Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack. Classroom Activity: Fold a paper into 4 pages and plan where a joke or big fact should be hidden until the next page turn.
Performance	Read: This book begs to be performed with spooky-chef gestures, dramatic pauses, and excited fact-telling. Classroom Activity: Rehearse reading one page aloud and mark where you will use a voice change, gesture, and pause.
Personality	Read: The zombie presenter has a big personality—goofy, curious, and enthusiastic—which keeps the facts lively. Classroom Activity: Write 5 narrator lines that teach facts while showing a strong personality trait like goofy, bossy, or amazed.
Humor	Read: Humor comes from zombie jokes, silly expectations, and the playful idea that brains are more than a snack. Classroom Activity: Write 3 science jokes or playful captions for an informational page about the body.
Pause	Read: Notice where the book slows down for a surprising fact or a visual moment so readers can think and laugh before racing on. Classroom Activity: Add one pause line such as Wait... or But here’s the amazing part... into your own fact paragraph.
Poetry and Poetic Devices	Read: Listen for playful sound patterns, repeated phrases, and image-rich wording that make facts feel musical and memorable. Classroom Activity: Write a 4-line poem about the brain using alliteration or personification.
Repetition	Read: The title idea and brain-centered jokes repeat the main message that the brain matters, helping readers remember the theme. Classroom Activity: Choose one key phrase and repeat it in 3 different parts of your writing to build emphasis.
Rhythm	Read: The short sentences, punchy facts, and quick jokes create a brisk rhythm that matches the lively zombie host. Classroom Activity: Draft 6 sentences that alternate between short punchy lines and slightly longer fact lines.
Punctuation	Read: Notice how exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes help the zombie narrator sound excited, shocked, or dramatic. Classroom Activity: Rewrite a plain fact 3 ways using different punctuation to change the energy.
Questions	Read: The book uses questions to make readers think about their own brains and stay involved in the lesson. Classroom Activity: Write 4 reader questions that could introduce facts in a funny informational book.
Compare-Contrast	Read: A big compare-contrast idea is brains as something zombies might want to eat versus brains as the control center of the body. Classroom Activity: Make a T-chart comparing what people might think about brains in a silly story and what is actually true.
Objects	Read: Pay attention to props and visual objects connected to the zombie chef-scientist style, since they help frame the facts in a memorable way. Classroom Activity: Choose 3 objects your fact-guide character would carry and explain how each object helps teach the topic.
Threes	Read: Notice when information is grouped in small sets that are easy to remember, a pattern that helps pacing stay clear for young readers. Classroom Activity: Write 3 important jobs of the brain in a set of three using matching sentence starters.
Whitespace & Negative Space	Read: The page design gives room for words and illustrations so readers can stop, notice, and absorb each joke or fact without feeling crowded. Classroom Activity: Sketch a mock page and decide where to leave blank space so one fact stands out.
Art & Graphics	Read: The illustrations and graphic layout add energy, help explain science ideas, and make the zombie humor feel friendly instead of scary. Classroom Activity: Design a labeled picture or diagram to go with one fact from your own informational page.
Interactives & Gamification	Read: The direct address and playful tone make the reading feel interactive, as if the zombie host is quizzing and entertaining the audience. Classroom Activity: Create a 3-question brain quiz or challenge that could fit at the end of a page in your own book.

Pace-Write It!

20-Minute Classroom Flow Read (5 min): Read aloud selected pages from Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack by Stacy McAnulty. Pause to let students hear the zombie chef-scientist voice, the jokes, and the quick fact reveals. Notice (5 min): Ask: How does the author keep facts moving? Chart student ideas such as short chunks, questions, page-turn surprises, silly voice, and strong punctuation. Revisit the focus question and underline one example of humor plus one example of a fact. Write (7 min): Students write their own mini fact-page in the style of a funny guide teaching something important. Writing frame: “You may think ______ is just for ______, but actually it ______. Watch out! It can also ______. Isn’t that amazing? That’s why ______ is not just ______.” Encourage students to use one question, one exclamation mark, and one surprising fact. Share (3 min): Partners read their mini fact-pages aloud using a performance voice. Listeners name one pacing move they heard, such as a pause, a joke, or a question. Exit ticket: Write one sentence answering: How did Stacy McAnulty make brain facts feel fun and fast in Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack?

Pace-Write-Read Connection

Teach this book using the Pace-Write-Read method — Tool 23: Humor.

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