Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Using an ingenious body-as-factory metaphor, Green and Davis offer a "wild roller-coaster tour of the cranking, sloshing, pumping parts that keep you alive and kicking!" A bustling crew of miniature pilots, scuba divers, scientists, and others are shown hard at work throughout the body, demonstrating how different systems or organs operate: jet ski riders represent the flow of oxygenated blood away from the heart, while railcars and conveyers truck food through the digestive tract. Dominated by the workers' thoughts and commentary ("If we don't get oxygen into the muscle fast, I'm afraid the boss will get a cramp"), it's an enlightening yet unstuffy guide to the body that begs to be pored over. Includes a large foldout poster of a cutaway body. Ages 7-up. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-This fantastical look at the inner workings of bodies covers a lot of material, including systems, organs, and processes, all using a factory as a metaphor. Each spread, encased in a yellow-and-gray-striped ribbon reminiscent of a construction zone, represents a department. An inset locates the organ or system within a body outline and introduces it. In bright colors, a cross-section of the part(s) under scrutiny is shown with dozens of frenetic workers, pieces of machinery, and equipment presented in small vignettes that illustrate its various functions and features. Numerous speech and thought bubbles build in humor and further details. Labels and occasional diagrams help orient readers. The spreads begin with the brain and proceed in a relatively top-to-bottom order ending with "Reproduction" or the "New Model Planning Unit" and the somewhat incongruous "Pregnancy" or "New Model Production" department. Each panel stands alone, missing opportunities for continuity, although references to other pages are given where appropriate. The busyness of the illustrations mimics the "Where's Waldo" (Candlewick) style and requires close viewing as does the inclusion of Clatterbones, a skeleton that readers are encouraged to locate in many of the spreads. While the frenzy on the pages might not help illuminate the inner workings of the human body, readers will enjoy browsing this lively title.-Carol S. Surges, Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI (c) Copyright 2012. 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.
