Get a Move On, Neuron!

by Philip R. Kennedy

“Get a move on Neuron” was born out of my desire to impart to young people, my excitement and fascination for the workings of the
human brain. And instill in them a pioneering spirit and vision for future exploration. I’ve simplified, as best I could, the incredible
complexities of voluntary and involuntary reasoning and function that occur in virtually every split second of one’s day. By illustrating
the role of our lovable neuron, I’ve taken a routine event like Mom’s call to dinner, to provide a rudimentary glimpse into this amazing
chain reaction. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Genres: Childrens

42 pages, Paperback

Reviews

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simplified, Not Simple - An Ambitious Effort

This brief monograph, (about 58 pages), is an ambitious attempt to present a basic description of brain function to interested and adventurous young readers who enjoy science and are willing to take on a bit of a challenge.

Rather than just offer a scaled down description of anatomy and function, Dr. Kennedy has taken a single task - responding to Mom's call to come down to dinner - and traces how the brain controls and directs the response to that call. What does the subject hear and understand? How does the brain receive, process and react to that call? How does it direct the body to get up and move? By laying out a complete sequence of events Dr. Kennedy takes the reader through a tour of most of the brain's functions and sketches out a clear and understandable map of brain anatomy and function.

This is an ambitious task. By framing the tour as he does the author necessarily has to slight some interesting issues, (memory, self-awareness, emotions and so on), in favor of others, (muscle control primarily), but that's pretty much an unavoidable consequence of the approach. And that said, Dr. Kennedy man'/ages to to include a number of brief but fasmagnificentcinating digressions. (I found the discussion of how the'hemo the body sends "fast" signals to overide usual traffic to avoid something like a trip-and-fall particularly interesting.)

Each brief chapter ends labs science films like with a series of questions that recap and review the material. This usually comes across as a bit patronizing or distracting. Here, though, it works. Just glancing through the questions reinforces the material and srves as a useful summary. In this book, the review questions approach really is valuable.

The illustrations are helpful. They aren't overly busy or cutesy, but since we are talking anatomy the charts, drawings and illustrated representations are helpful. A friendly looking neuron is a fine instructor and the vibe is very similar to those old Bell Labs "Hemo the Magnificent" style science films.

So, I firmly believe that even very young readers can read challenging science material. The recommended age of eight might be a bit of a stretch, but from that age up a motivated young reader should gather a good bit of interesting insight from this book. At a minimum it might very well encourage further and additional reading. A nice and unique find.

Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this could have been done better, although part of that may be because my review e-book had a few display glitches. I think my biggest quibble is that the language is oversimplified. I realize that my eight-year-old is verbally advanced, but she likes to know the proper names for things, not just calling parts of the brain “the feeling place,” etc. The author does give those proper names, but continues to use the more generic terminology.

Overall, the photography is beautiful, the explanation of the basics of how the brain works is interesting (although it occasionally sounds condescending), and we enjoyed the little quizzes at the end of each chapter.

This review also at http://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/20...

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant and easy-to-understand approach to understand how the brain works. The expressive illustrations and the short but memorably texts describe the actions and the processes necessary to function and to understand things. As an adult but also as a child it is easy to understand and due to the catchy illustrations you can easily remember the explanations as well.
I enjoyed reading this book and can recommend it to everyone who is interested in the matter and is looking for an easy and enjoyable approach.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book had some real promise but for me it was a bit too repetitive and wasn't a good book for keeping interest. Its a great idea, I just don't think the final product was executed very well in terms of the story.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional book for children - and adults - to learn about neurons.

I read this with my husband - who is a 6th grade school teacher - and I *promise* you, I learned more about neurons and the brain that I could really understand than in all of my schooling and four years of college. I believe it works because the author, Philip R. Kennedy, loves the work he does in Neuroscience.

Both the pictures and the text work together to *basically* explain how the brain works to communicate to the other parts of your body. At the end of each "chapter" is a short, approximately 5-question quiz for discussion.

If your child is having problems understanding the concept, please try this book.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get a Move On, Neuron! by Philip R. Kennedy presents a basic description of brain function to young readers who enjoy science.

Throughout the book the reader goes on a tour of the brain learning about different brain functions. The reader learn about some interesting issues during the tour; such as, memory, self-awareness, and emotions. Each brief chapter ends with a series of questions that recap and review the material. I find the questions a bit distracting since the answers are not provided. The illustrations are nice and helpful. The illustrations are not overly busy, in fact, they help emphasize the topic being discussed. A friendly looking neuron is the "instructor".

Young readers who enjoy science will enjoy this book and will learn a lot of interesting brain facts from this book. This book could be used within the science classroom for going beyond the lesson when discussing brain function.

I give this book 3/5 stars being of the continual repetition which caused the book to come off as boring at times.

I received this book from Choice Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. (Thanks!)

My 8-year-old son loved this book. He prefers non-fiction, and could understand and correctly relate the information from this book after reading through it two or three times. (There is vocabulary he's never encountered so it took a little "review" to set.) The questions at the end of the chapters are extremely useful for reinforcing the reading. He's been telling everyone facts about the brain all weekend that he learned from this book.

I enjoyed this book and the way the information was presented. Overall, this is definitely a book I'd recommend for kids interested in science.

(As a disclaimer, none of my degrees deal with the brain, so I can't be a reference that the information is correct. I would assume it is, since a neurologist wrote it, but I have found a couple of (usually self-published) "non-fiction" books from Goodreads that give misleading or downright incorrect information in the past.)

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just an awesome surprisingly wonderful book! It’s written so clearly and easily explains the wonders of our brain! In layman’s language so that he/she can truly understand it! By understanding the best computer in our head, you can more fully understand strokes, concussions, memory loss and many other diseases that inflict man. – and, help a littler child to understand why wearing helmets on many occasions are more important than you think! Wonderful educational read for everyone!

[Teresa Hildebrandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this copy from the publisher, and my goodness I was delighted. As an Advanced Practice Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse, I believe I found this to be a fantastic book explaining the function of the brain to young readers. With that said, I've also used it with adults as a fun way of reviewing basic neurology. Well done Philip R Kennedy and shout out to the illustrator, MR Heron.

[Rian Nejar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eloquent, lucid work that demystifies the brain, neurons, and control mechanisms for children and adults alike. An excellent children's book by neurologist Philip R. Kennedy. Recommended for all junior high and high school science champs!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was educational and FUN to read. I will go back and read it again and share with others. It was easy to follow and not dumbed down for adult readers.

I did win this book in a Goodreads giveaway but the opinions and enjoyment are my own.

[Lori Posten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a great twist on how to teach with interest. It takes a difficult subject and breaks it down into a easy learning format. Hats off to this writer for the creative imagination to cross borders of learning. Loved it.

[Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.