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How Your Body Works

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR BODY
Written by Beverly McMillan
featuring over 200 color photos and illustrations
(B.E.S., $14.99, Ages 10-14)

 

cover art from A Day in the Life of Your Body

I am going to start my review of A Day in the Life of Your Body: An Around the Clock Guide to How Your Body Works ($14.99, Barron’s, ages 8 and up) by saying that I find this book to be overwhelmingly wonderful in every way. Think of it as a comprehensive anatomy textbook, but for kids – filled with extraordinary, detailed full-color medical illustrations and photographs. Author Beverly McMillan’s narrative takes the reader through what goes on inside the body of a child on any given day, from the time she wakes up until she goes to sleep. Young readers will learn an array of fascinating facts about how the body works. For example, the keratin in our skin makes it completely waterproof, the cerebral cortex of the brain is used to doing math problems and vision is the most powerful of the five senses. In addition to covering the vital functions of the body, other engaging sections cover visiting the doctor, genetics, how food is processed, what it takes to live a long and healthy life plus health myths and facts.

 

 

int spread from A Day in the Life of Your Body pg 11_12
interior illustration from A Day in the Life of Your Body by Beverly McMillan, B.E.S. Publishing ©2012.

 

What I love about this book is that it is written in such a way that what would normally be complicated information is just so easy to understand. The exceptional illustrations clearly depict the internal layers of the body, which greatly complement the text. And it’s very important for our health, for all of us to understand how the human body works. This book may have been written for children, but you’d be hard pressed to find an adult anywhere who would not learn from it and enjoy reading it, too. Every home and classroom should have a copy of A Day in the Life of Your Body: An Around the Clock Guide to How Your Body Works!

 

  • Reviewed by Debbie Glade, who adores science books, and was excited to review this spectacular book about the human body.
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On Top of the World

 

Debbie Glade reviews today’s title.

With the recent news that there is a decline in the production of science books for children and that climate change is threatening polar bears and other cold weather animals, I was so happy to read the big, beautiful book, North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration  ($16.99, Candlewick Press, ages 7 and up) by Nick Dowson. This essential book takes readers on a migrating journey over thousands of miles with a variety of animals – polar bears, grey whales, terns, geese, caribou and various types of whales. The book is written with such eloquent and clever prose, your child will be magically swept into the story . . . “Here in the winter, the sun sinks away, blizzards fill the darkness and even the seas freeze deep.” We learn how the animals migrate – whether on foot, by sea or by air – and what they eat, how they live and the challenges they face to survive. In the back of the book is factual information about the Arctic and a useful glossary of terms. The author is a teacher and a naturalist, and he certainly has a gift for getting children interested in animal migration just by the way he puts his words together.

Award winning illustrator, Patrick Benson captures the essence of Arctic wilderness with great splendor, making this an even more exceptional animal adventure for children and their parents alike.  The somewhat smoky pictures evoke the moisture and the darkness of the far, far north. Mr. Benson, who illustrated Roald Dahl’s, The Minpins, is an animal lover himself, as he lives on a 26-acre farm in rural Scotland.

I was not surprised to discover that Candlewick Press published this book. It is well written, educational, beautiful and sturdy – a perfect addition to any child’s library. I highly recommend it.

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