You Can't Take Your Body to a Repair Shop: A Book About What Makes You Sick

by Fred Ehrlich

Jam-packed with information -- grown-ups will learn from this book, too! It's written by a doctor with more than thirty years experience treating children and families.
The latest addition to the popular You Can't... series focuses on common illnesses that affect children. Fred Ehrlich explains what makes you sick in easy-to-understand prose. He makes distinctions, such as between bacteria and virus, clear. At once engaging and sympathetic, Dr. Ehrlich touches on everyday illnesses such tummy aches, vomiting, diarrhea, colds and flu, warts and pimples, and various allergies.
In the time-tested format that made You Can't Taste a Pickle with Your Ear so funny, the book includes humorous verse to complement the matter-of-fact text and is delightfully punctuated by Amanda Haley's madcap illustrations to ensure a tone that is at once light and reassuring. In fact, Dr. Ehrlich is careful not to frighten children, reminding us all that most of the time our bodies work just fine, and that even when we're sick, our bodies usually get well by themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2004

Reviews

[Farah]

Berbeda dengan buku You Can't Use Your Brain If You're a Jellyfish dan You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear: A Book About Your 5 Senses, buku ini sedikit lebih rumit, dengan istilah-istilah yang agak lebih susah dan butuh penjelasan, atau bantuan kamus saat membacanya.

Tapi yang pasti sih, buku ini tetap pilihan bagus untuk mengajarkan masalah penyakit-penyakit yang biasa diderita oleh anak-anak. Memberikan penjelasan yang mudah dipahami mengenai beberapa hal, terutama gangguan-gangguan kesehatan yang kerap kali gue alami.

Misalnya nih ya, Mabuk Darat (carsickness).
Gue selalu berpikir kalo gue terbiasa naik motor, makanya kalo naek mobil yang ada acnya sebentar aja gue langsung mual dan pusing. Sampe-sampe ada yang bilang emang sebaiknya gue naek mobil bak yang biasa ngangkut sayur aja.

Walopun ngga begitu menjelaskan kenapa gue bisa anti banget sama ac, minimal gue jadi tahu bahwa Mabuk Darat terjadi karena pergerakan mobil yang mengganggu keseimbangan gue, yang nantinya menyebabkan mual. Di buku ini sih dijelasin kalo carsickness terjadi kalau perjalanannya lama dan membosankan. Loh terus kenapa kalo gue 10 menit di dalem taksi aja udah berasa puyeng? *merangkak naik mobil bak*


*balik-balik halaman minta penjelasan*

Oh ini ada penjelasan tentang upil dan ingus.
Oh kemudian ada penjelasan mengenai penyakit kulit..
Oh, kapalan itu bahasa Inggrisnya callus.
Dan sunburn.

*balik-balik halaman lagi*
oh. Udah abis.
Yaudah, gitu aja.

*balikin bukunya ke library*

[Kayla]

I suppose this book is ok if you're looking for something seriously educational for an older child, but it's way too overwhelming for a kid who still likes picture books. I was expecting this to be similar to the other books in the Fred Ehrlich series, combining humor and information in a child-friendly way, but with words like "lesions" and "isolate," even my first-grader lost interest quickly. The Magic School Bus series does a great job tackling this kind of suject matter in a way that engages young kids and doesn't talk over their heads, so I think we'll stick with that route. I would really only pick up this book again to teach something specific, such as Blisters, Bites, and Other Skin Troubles NOT Caused by Germs, on an as-needed basis (there's a table of contents).

[Agatha Andari]

to be reviewed.