Informational Text
The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body sets the gold standard in informational texts. The editors, designers and artists have crafted a magnificent book which would engage any student, even if science is his or her lest favorite subject. The illustrations, starting on the front cover, immediately grab the reader’s attention. They are vivid and detailed, ranging from relevant photographs and diagrams to enlarged microscope and x-ray images. (The editors do qualify the images explaining that extra color was added to make them clearer so they do not always show the real colors of the human body.) No space is wasted as an image often serves as a backdrop for a whole page. The text, written on roughly a fourth or fifth grade level is friendly and clear, giving simple, but accurate, explanations. Kid engaging features include: “amazing” facts and records, internet links and experiments and activities, like testing reaction time and fooling the brain with optical illusions.
This text would serve as a wonderful supplemental resource for a unit study of the human body in several ways. For example, since the North Carolina Essential Standards often have a grade specific focus, like skin in second grade, a teacher could quickly turn to that chapter and incorporate its information in a lesson plan. Younger students would be particularly captivated by the pictures sparking an initial interest in life science. Older students could use this book to locate and identify text features like table of contents, diagrams, photographs, glossary, timeline, index, charts/tables, headings, captions and types of print. Moreover, using a Reading Informational Text Bookmark (Oczkus, p. 83) would help students clarify, monitor and evaluate their independent reading as this text is loaded with information.
The publisher obviously values not only supplying information to students, but also presenting it in a winsome manner. This text easily garners five stars because of the comprehensive learning experience it provides.