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Joe Kaufman's How We are Born, How We Grow, How Our Bodies Work, and How We Learn
Introduces the parts of the body and their functions and discusses relevant topics such as health, heredity, dreams, and food.
93 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1975
About the author
Joe Kaufman
63 books3 followersBorn Joseph Kaufman, illustrator and author of children books. He died in 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 15, 2012
I loved this book growing up. Too bad it's out of print now. No other educational or encyclopedic children's book I've seen comes close to this one as far as the illustrations go, they're clean, informative and cute.
November 20, 2009
We're still studying the human body. It will never end....neither will my search for a good book about the body. We've used this book for a few sections so far. And thus far it's pretty dang good. Short, simple but not dumbed down explanations. Excellent illustrations. Even a few suggestions on experiments to do.
The first few pages are about babies and how they uh, get here. There are 4 small pictures of the equipment used, and one short paragraph on how it happens. We've sort of skipped over that part because I'm not ready to have that talk, especially not with all of them together. We may use that section later though because it's short, scientific and doesn't really go into detail like other books I've read.
We'll keep using this I think. Much better than most of the other body books out there. But I reserve the right to change my mind if things get weird.
October 15, 2009 - Still using this book. Thus far I've liked all the information we've read. Very concise but very understandable. It really has a lot of information and detail, but we never feel bogged down. I'm fighting the urge to go back through and read all the sections we've already covered. Maybe the next time we study the body. I think this book gets to stay with us.
The first few pages are about babies and how they uh, get here. There are 4 small pictures of the equipment used, and one short paragraph on how it happens. We've sort of skipped over that part because I'm not ready to have that talk, especially not with all of them together. We may use that section later though because it's short, scientific and doesn't really go into detail like other books I've read.
We'll keep using this I think. Much better than most of the other body books out there. But I reserve the right to change my mind if things get weird.
October 15, 2009 - Still using this book. Thus far I've liked all the information we've read. Very concise but very understandable. It really has a lot of information and detail, but we never feel bogged down. I'm fighting the urge to go back through and read all the sections we've already covered. Maybe the next time we study the body. I think this book gets to stay with us.
April 28, 2017
Have you ever wondered how your body works and why it does the things it does? This book contains lots of information about the human body. It introduces all the different parts of the body and explains their functions. It also talks about other relevant topics, such as food and nutrition, evolution, heredity, and dreams.
The text is, from what I’ve read, very accurate. I took anatomy class and a lot of what I read is the same thing I learned from my anatomy professor. “The hypothalamus controls such things as body temperature, hunger, and thirst.” (Kaufman 56). I did a research project on the hypothalamus and that is the same information I found. The text structure is very paragraph-like with lots of diagrams, subtext, and illustrations. It is easy to read because it explains complicated concepts in an easy-to-understand way. Since most of the terminology is very scientific, I would recommend this for 12-year-olds, but the explanations and illustrations are very child-friendly that this book can easily be used with 6-8-year-olds.
The text is, from what I’ve read, very accurate. I took anatomy class and a lot of what I read is the same thing I learned from my anatomy professor. “The hypothalamus controls such things as body temperature, hunger, and thirst.” (Kaufman 56). I did a research project on the hypothalamus and that is the same information I found. The text structure is very paragraph-like with lots of diagrams, subtext, and illustrations. It is easy to read because it explains complicated concepts in an easy-to-understand way. Since most of the terminology is very scientific, I would recommend this for 12-year-olds, but the explanations and illustrations are very child-friendly that this book can easily be used with 6-8-year-olds.
September 17, 2024
I have often thought about this book throughout my life. My sister and I spent countless hours reading this book as children. I thought it was called "The Body Book" and had been trying to find this for a while. Do you know how hard it is to find a children's book about the body from the 80s?? There are thousands! I vividly remember the pastel purple cover and the illustrations and finally went to Reddit to ask for help. I didn't think it would be found, but someone suggested one of Kaufman's other books, and down below, there she was!! This book was so important to me, I lost this book and most of my possessions when my family became homeless when I was 12/13 - so after constantly thinking about this book and hoping to find it for nearly 30 years, I finally got her!
April 25, 2026
This book had an incredible impact on me as a kid and was a big inspiration to go into sciences and biology. Still holds really well today, although in some cases we know more now, but overall just excellent. It was so engaging I'd still get it for a child.
November 1, 2019
Rolig bok
December 31, 2012
Everything i ever needed to know about anatomy i learned when i was a kids from this book:)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews