Body Actions

by Shelley Rotner

The human body can be astonishing. This book is filled
with energy-packed photographs of kids running, jumping,
riding bikes, and using all five senses. The photos
are overlaid with depictions of the nervous, skeletal,
muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems and
major organs to show the amazing ways in which active
bodies function. The five senses and the major organs
are all covered. Glossary, notes on the systems and
senses, and an index are included.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Childrens, Science, Picture Books

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 10, 2012

About the author

When I was five, I refused to go to kindergarten. I declared it was for babies. I already knew how to read, but what really bothered me the most was that the kids mixed up the paintbrushes and colors at the easel so there was never true blue, red, yellow or green. Every time my teacher turned her back, I left the room and headed to the first grade class diagonally across the hall. Luckily, I had a friend there who happily shared her desk with me until the teacher noticed and sent me back to kindergarten. After many successful escapes, a trip to the principal and some testing, I was officially moved to that first grade class with beautiful autumn leaves painted on the door.

Reviews

[Sunah Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our body works together in complex ways to function. This informational picture book describes body systems by the nervous, skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory categories with illustrations over the photographs.

In order to help understand the location of the body parts and systems, simple illustrations were added to the photographs. For instance, a photo of a child is overlapped by an image of a brain which shows where the brain is located in the human body. Most of all, I liked the figures for the six body systems in six photographs. Over the same photographs of a child, the nervous, skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems were illustrated on each image, and it helped me to understand what the term meant and where they are located on our body. The detailed explanation of the terms of the body systems was embedded at the end of the book with a glossary of texts. This picture book could play a great role to introduce body systems in life science curriculum.

[Amy Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Body Actions is a great book for students who are just starting to learn the actions of the body. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the pictures. They do a great job of showing how certain parts of the body work. I also appreciate how simple yet informative the content of this book is. The information is put in such a simple way that it allows young readers to have a chance to actually grasp and understand what it going on in the book, and truly learn how parts of the body operate. This is a great book to use in the classroom when you are about to start a unit on the human body, and how the body functions. I would use this book for K-3, highly suggest that you check it out of your library, even buy to put in your personal library.

[Aubry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rotner, Shelley. (2012). Body Actions. New York: Holiday House.
2013 Teacher’s Choice
Concept Book

This book takes real life photographs of children doing different activities, and shows the reader what parts of the body are used to perform that activity. I liked this book because the pictures that they use could help children relate and understand the human body better. It is very informative, but in a simple way that children can comprehend. I would recommend this book for an activity in the classroom where you are teaching body parts and functions.

[Elizabeth Stange · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because i was able to learn something even as a 19 year old. I think this will help children understand what our bodies do and how they move and such. The pictures were awesome at really showing what kind of muscles do what when a person is doing a certain activity. I loved how easy to read this book was also. There are not much easy books for young children that talk about the body and muscles since that subject already is pretty detailed, but this book does a great job explaining it so that young children can grasp it and learn along.

[Kristen Dota · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! The pictures were awesome at really showing what kind of muscles do what when a person is doing a certain activity. I loved how easy to read this book was also. There are not much easy books for young children that talk about the body and muscles since that subject already is pretty detailed, but this book does a great job explaining it so that young children can grasp it and learn along. Great book to have in gym classes or even the classroom!

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

We checked this book out as part of our human body science unit this week for home school. FABULOUS pictures, explanations and introduction to the systems on the body, what they do and how they work. It is basic, so perfect for my 4 and 6 year olds, and even good for my ESL 12-year-old. Loved it and my kids did too.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very educational for children! Its all about how the body works. They show you everything there is to know about how you function. The book gives out facts, and information about how many muscles you have, and when you ride a bike or kick a ball it sends out a message to the brain. Kids are very interested, and they want to learn more.

[Great Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

The human body is like an amazing machine with many parts that work together. Body systems are introduced in simple text and large color photographs. The many different faces of children demonstrate how well the body performs functions such as tasting, seeing, eating and breathing. Reviewer 17

[Mommywest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent choice for teaching kids about the various systems of our bodies. The pictures do a great job of showing how these systems work. Recommended for preschool all the way up through elementary school. Preschool: My Amazing Body

[Sarah Herrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great text for introducing super young kids to the different systems of the body. My four year old really seemed to enjoy it. Great pictures and very informative and nice for an intro.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic understanding of how the body works with photographs and illustrations.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and attractive introduction to how the the body works for younger readers.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

simple text, real children photographed, great non-fiction addition for a preschool storytime.

[Brindi Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I've come across on the topic of the body and visually seeing its functions. Perfect for Super Science Saturday at the library--themed the body!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource to use during yoga for kids.