Science Series
Parker, Steven. Eyewitness Books: The Human Body. New York: DK Books, 2004.
Summary:
Each of this book's 30 two-page spreads details one aspect of the human body system, including blood, waste disposal, the birthing process, and the nervous system. The book also examines the medical practices and technologies that have been used throughout time to investigate or treat the human body, such as dissection and the invention of the microscope. The information provided on each component of the human body system appears in a paragraph-long summary at the beginning of each section. In addition, each of the book's informational spreads includes several graphics, including large-scale color photograph cross-sections of anatomical models, and photographs of surgical tools, each coming with their own paragraph-long captions, which are provided in smaller text.
Critical Review:
This book, and Eyewitness Books in general, may be more appropriate for some readers than others. Students interested in perusing the book for the sake of gleaning new information will be served quite well by this book, as it does not require- or even expect- a cover-to-cover reading. Some special needs students and struggling readers, though, may be better served by another other scientific series if they require a book for research purposes, as each spread in this book may appear to be very cluttered with their preponderances of images and small-print blocks of text. Students who are overwhelmed by the visuals and text in this series may want to look for a volume with fewer graphics, larger and better-spaced texts, and informational features such as sidebars and informational charts.
Target Audience: Grades 6-12