How Your Body Works: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

by Thomas Canavan

"What a great book! The images and display of information is very well done, leaving enough room on the page so that the reader is not overwhelmed. This book moves from different topics easily, with interesting facts and graphics on each page. Kids will love pulling out this book and picking a page at random." — Leon County Public Library
From the hairs on their heads to the tips of their toes, this "owner's manual" for kids explains the workings of the human body. Fascinating facts are delivered in bite-sized increments, dense with information but easy to swallow. An appealing, modern visual style combines photos, infographics, cartoons, and computer-generated diagrams.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 2015

Reviews

[❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since my husband and I are both nurses, my young sons are not strangers to anatomy and physiology. From their toddlerhood, we used real body part names and began explaining the body systems at their level of understanding. They would spend a lot of time with our old Anatomy & Physiology college textbooks and ask questions. I have a soft spot for children's educational books (especially biology/science ones).

This book is AMAZING for kids. I'm guessing it would be appropriate for 2nd grade through 6th grade. There are things that go a bit too in depth for the younger of this range (parts of a cell, DNA, etc), but there are plenty of things they will enjoy. It goes through the all the body systems from microscopic to the big picture, covers nutrition and "good bacteria", and what happens when the systems get sick or broken/sprained/bruised/burned. There are stellar photographs, x-rays, computer graphics, and drawings. Fun facts are presented in a fun way throughout the book as well. With 133 pages, this book is simple but comprehensive.

Each page focuses on a few key concepts in very simple terms. This is perfect for the attention span of a child. This book would be great to keep in the living room or the car for the kids to peruse at will.

Excellent job!

[Elaine - Splashes Into Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really impressed by this excellent book! It has a superb range of bright and colourful illustrations which really enhance children’s understanding and enjoyment of the text. The text explanations within it are superb, accurate, detailed but still concise and child friendly making them. This will be brilliant for encouraging children to be interested in learning more about their body and will also be useful as a reference text. It also gives suggestions for activities that readers could carry out and everything is shared in a fun, appealing and engaging manner. Correct vocabulary and terms are used throughout but these are explained so readers understand them. I was also impressed at the diversity of people included in the book, highly appropriate in a book about the human body! It would be great book to have in any home with children.

As a teacher, I believe this book could be an excellent resource, something pupils will enjoy ‘dipping into’ and using for reference purposes. It could also help inspire the teacher with some brilliant activities and explanations! I could easily imagine using some of this text to introduce new topics or investigations regarding aspects of how human bodies work - definitely a book to look out for!

Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too for letting me read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, the best children's non-fiction book I've read this year. It is also the best human body book geared toward younger readers that I have ever come across, and as a homeschooling parent I've seen a few. With clear cut and concise narration, brilliant illustrations, and a smart organization that possesses a natural flow, this book is a gem. Additionally, I appreciated how the book had pictures of people of every age and skin color. It incorporates a nice, diverse group of humans throughout.
How Your Body Works: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide is a book every family, school, and public library should have on its shelves. I will be purchasing my own copy as soon as possible.

[Elle Markov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! That's the best way to describe it, the book is easy to understand and follow, the examples are great.

At first glance, I was like oh this is a good children's book and I estimated the target age to be 10+, but after getting to the baby section I raised the age to 12+.

As a bio major these kinds of books always catch my eye, they make think how the next generation will see the sciences. What was a real plus for this book is that they also incorporate athletes and such to appeal to the young crowd (wow, that dated me) in a fun educational manner.

Rating 5 out of 5
Read@Book

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent, it is full of great facts and fun and detailled images and drawings of the body and how it works. I thought that the activity sections to allow children to learn and get involved were briliant and even I learnt something. I would definately recommend it for children to learn and as a refesher to teenagers and adults too - its a fun book for all. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lorraine Leatham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be great for students to use as reference text. I believe it would be better suited for children that are ages 9 and up rather than 7-12 as it states the age range has been geared for. I had a few children that were 7and 8 years old take a look at the book while I was waiting for my son to come out of an appointment and they did not care for the books content. There is a lot of information packed into this book and would be great for children who are writing reports.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic and fun book for children. My 10 year old daughter loves science and read it all the way through. Since then we have looked at it again and again and we both continue to learn from it. Easy to read, crisp narrative and beautiful pictures. Of critical importance to our family is that the book shows diverse bodies, ages and races which does not often occur. Terrific, beautiful book.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

With bright illustrations and photographs, this book is a good general introduction to how the human body works. It contains interesting facts and is appropriate for elementary grades and middle school and I think that children who are interested in how the human body works will find this book very interesting. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.