View from the Pew: What Preachers Can Learn from Church Members

The reader becomes the good doctor's trusty lab assistant as he reconstructs a human body from the skeleton out, in a title that uses bold imagery and the most recent scientific information to bring the human body to life. By the author of The Visual Dictionary of Human Anatomy. 75,000 first printing.

Grade 5–8—Calling all Igor wannabes for a course in body-building as offered by Dr. Frankenstein. The 30-day program begins on Day 1 with an examination of cells and organelles, and proceeds, in stately fashion, through various body parts and coordinated systems to Day 30, when the completed body is presented for a "system check," including an MRI scan of the head and neck, an angiogram of the hand, a bone scan of feet and ankles, and a CT scan of the lungs. Each page is heavily illustrated, with large, clear diagrams taking center stage, while smaller diagrams, conventional color photos, and SEM microscapes are scattered about. An introductory paragraph and detailed captions constitute the text to support all these visuals. Each section contains a punny note from the good doctor's laboratory notebook, e.g., "After struggling in vain for the answers, assistant has grasped the basics of blood vessels." All this anatomical data is housed in a thick, blood-red cover, with a 3-D heart embedded in its soft embrace. The pages are sturdy boards and their combined weight makes separation from the not-too-sturdy binding all but a given. (Obviously, Dr. Frankenstein was not into physics.) Another cautionary note: as this laboratory genius was not interested in having his creation go forth and multiply, male and female reproductive systems are reduced to two very small, unlabeled diagrams tucked into the section on the urinary tract. All in all, this creation is fun, appealing, and informative, but so fragile it is unlikely to survive intact in its present incarnation.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
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Starred Review. Talk about mad genius—from conception to execution, padded red cover with 3-D effect to the up-close-and-personal images inside, this anatomy book is as engrossing as any science fiction. Dr. Frankenstein, shown in a sepia photograph standing in a laboratory, gazing at a skull he holds in one hand, invites readers to join him as he creates a human being (Don't look so startled, he chides the meek). From there it's on to atoms and the skeletal system, tissues and organs, and so on, presented on visually rich spreads. The story line is sustained with brief, pun-happy journal entries (Day 11 [on eyes]: Assistant has seen the light), and the theme reinforced with remarkable design. Gothic fonts and engraved illustrations and vignettes (in red and black and also hand-colored) blend with state-of-the-art images from MEG scans, gamma scans and other advanced technology. Clear explanations broken into easily assimilable captions and text blocks encourage the reader. The only flaw: the subject most likely to interest the target group, the reproductive system, receives such timid mention as to be almost nonsensical (Male and female reproductive systems differ in structure, but both are involved in producing special cells that join up to make babies). Ages 10–up. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.