The human body

Gr 5-8-Infographics is the use of "icons, graphics, and pictograms" in order to "visualize data and information in a whole new way!" Each spread starts with a heading and short introductory paragraph, followed by a compilation of facts and statistics presented in bright, bold colors. For example, Human Body tells readers that "your mouth will produce nearly 10,567 gallons (40,000 liters) of saliva in a lifetime." It has a section on reproduction that discusses how a sperm fertilizes an egg (but there are no details on how the sperm got there) and states that "300,000,000 [sperm] are released.at ejaculation." In Human World, readers learn that McDonald's sells 75 hamburgers every single second and that Europe holds 34 percent of the world's wealth. Both titles will appeal to readers who enjoy poring over interesting facts and details and who like to have that knowledge to share. The books will be useful in math units that address percentages, various graph types, metric conversion, and money, and they also have social studies and science tie-ins.-Stephanie Farnlacher, Trace Crossings Elementary School, Hoover, AL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Like its preceding titles (The Natural World, 2013, etc.), this attempt to illuminate factual information by presenting it in visual ways seldom exploits the graphic possibilities. In single-topic spreads, Richards surveys the human body's insides and outsides, senses, bacterial fellow travelers, reproduction, growth and organ transplants. Though not particularly systematic--mentioning, for instance, red, white and platelet blood cells but only explaining (some of) the actual functions of whites--he does drop many impressively big numbers and also describes major parts and processes clearly. Printed in intense colors against monochromatic backgrounds, Simkins' images are eye-catching, but they only illustrate the arrays of quick facts and numbers rather than highlighting comparisons or contrasts. (There are occasional exceptions, like one chart showing changing body proportions and another comparing the hearing acuity of various animals.) The visuals are sometimes misleading to boot, as when the relative amounts of nitrogen and of trace elements shown in a silhouette depicting body components contradict the printed percentages, and cardiac chambers don't change shape or size in the portrayal of a heartbeat. Similar issues dog the co-published The Human World, in which medallions enclosing the rising number of international travelers over time are the same size, as are all but one of the balloons around population figures for the five largest cities. These brave efforts to bring data to life are hobbled by unimaginative visuals. (index, websites) (Nonfiction. 8-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.