The Skin on Your Body (Hardcover)

A close-up look at the body's largest organ, this resource presents simple-to-understand information for young readers. Colorful and informative pictures complement and enhance the text and foster visual learning. The lively text explains why there are different skin textures, tones, and pigmentation, how the skin works, how we can protect it, and how the skin protects itself. Think About It, Compare and Contrast, and Vocabulary boxes also get readers to think more deeply about the text, while highlighting and defining more difficult terms.

Gr 2–4—These mediocre introductions to major (nonreproductive) body organs pair dryly generalized descriptions of anatomical structures and their functions with a mix of often drably colored graphic images and obviously posed photos of young people coughing, playing sports or taking part in some other relevant activity. Though each volume closes with remarks on the benefits of healthy behavior and habits, each also includes one or more potentially disquieting chapters on diseases and disorders. Aspects of these books are sure to leave readers confused, such as a bald statement in Eyes that "Eye color is different for every person" and a schematic picture in Heart that could be construed as depicting capillaries and veins as the same size. Stomach includes a chapter on animal digestion that seems to be filler, as other volumes stick to human anatomy. The back matter includes adequate resource lists, but no review or study questions. VERDICT Lackluster additions.