Focus on Nicotine and Caffeine (A Drug-Alert Book)

Describes the history, effects, social aspects, and physical dangers of using tobacco and caffeine products

Grade 4-6-- At last a truthful, factual, comprehensive series of books about drugs for elementary school children. Focus on Drugs and the Brain discusses how the brain works and how drugs affect it, carefully making the distinction between drugs used for medicine and for dope. The other titles tell a brief history of the drug, what it does to the brain and to the body, the effects on individuals and society, how addictions are treated, and how to resist peer pressure. The different authors speak in the same friendly yet serious tone. The facts are all here, simplified, but complete enough to relay the message--drugs are dangerous. The information is sufficient for reports, even on a middle-school level. Analogies are in the realm of children's experience without making the activity appear desirable. The authors do not try to fool readers; they are told that "caffeine is not as harmful to the body as other drugs" but "No amount of cocaine is safe." Peer pressure is explained, and techniques are offered to help children say no. There is no discussion of the physical danger that some inner-city children must endure as they try to remain drug free. The books are attractively decorated with childlike line drawings colored in blue, yellow, and green. These books are far superior to Ball's Everything You Need to Know About Drug Abuse (Rosen, 1988) and Hemming's Why Do People Take Drugs? (Gloucester, 1988). Every library that serves children will want these fine books, and teachers should also be made aware of them. --Martha Gordon, South Salem Library, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.