Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 5-8. The latest in Simon's books about the human body explains how the digestive system works. In his signature style, accessible without being cute or condescending, he describes the complex facts and processes of the physiology, from the time food enters the mouth until all the various organs transform it into energy, nutrients, and waste. Some of the text is quite dense, but the clearly labeled, full-page color photos show the anatomy close-up, from an X-ray of the colon and a photo of a dissected pancreas to a microscopic view of what heartburn looks like in the stomach. Simon also includes a page about a healthy diet. The facts of how the body works are astonishing. Readers older than the target audience may want to look at this, too. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Simon's specialty of drawing in readers through large, detailed, breathtaking photos and then entertaining them with facts is again in evidence. Beginning with the teeth, esophagus, and stomach, the information then winds its way through the small and large intestines, with the importance of the pancreas and liver included. The text is enhanced with detailed colored X rays, computer-generated pictures, and microscopic photos. The material is detailed, with terminology that may be difficult for children with no background, but not sophisticated enough to need a medical degree for interpretation. Students will find the book fascinating as well as a bit gross. Writers of health-related reports, as well as casual browsers, will surely put this title to use.-Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Primary) The digestive system is fascinating to children, who are quite familiar with what goes in and comes out but are less sure about what happens in between. Simon knows just how to tap into kids' interests. He goes well beyond basic organ description to describe the components and processes involved in each step of digestion. Simon takes advantage of children's familiarity with their bodies as well as their misconceptions -- gently confronting these ideas, then providing straightforward and remarkably clear explanations. ""Point to your stomach. Surprise! It's not behind your belly button, but higher up."" Simon seamlessly interweaves suggestions for active exploration with the introduction of sophisticated vocabulary and ideas. The advanced terminology is made easily understandable, even to younger readers, as the concepts behind them are built so naturally throughout the book (though a glossary/pronunciation guide would have been useful). Great photographs and images of organs get readers into the Guts mood and include close-ups of various organs in all their glistening, gristly glory. Good captioning addresses both what is portrayed and how it was imaged. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Guts has a lot going for it. In addition to its charmingly pithy title, it's decorated with any number of computer-enhanced Technicolor photographs of innards and bears the predominantly white-on-black design that is Simon's trademark. It's also written in standard Simon prose: By now, the author has perfected the art of boiling down the complexities of science into a simple, declarative sequence that, in this case, leads readers from the mouth to the anus. Along the way, they will learn of the dizzying variety of glands and goos that go into the digestive process, as well as the many organs from the epiglottis to the appendix. While the text would almost certainly have been improved by a pronunciation guide (how many child readers will know exactly what to do with "chyme"?) and would definitely have been improved by a bibliography or list of added resources, it does its job as efficiently as its subject does. Simon's books remain blessedly free of distracting sidebars and other trendy bells and whistles, and that simplicity in itself may be one of the keys to his enduring success. (Nonfiction. 5-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
