Our Body

This is a nice entry in the series published by Time-Life's "A Child's First Library of Learning." The focus is on the human body. As always, the format is posing of a question and then providing an answer. Each Q-A normally takes two pages (although there are some exceptions in this book). The first question is also, perhaps, the one that might make parents most nervous, "Why aren't girls' bodies the same as boys'?" The subject is handled in a developmentally appropriate way and should not be a cause of concern. The little sidebar "To the Parent" provides some additional material that could foster discussion between parent and child. A poignant question for me: "Why do old men lose their hair." I still have a bunch of my own hair, but it's not as thick as it used to be! For younger children who might want to know what happens with age, in terms of hair, this section does a nice job. "Why do we have two ears"? Good segment, as the text notes that this separation allows people to guess what direction sound is coming from (There is a similar question about separation of two eyes). "Why do we get cavities?" This actually provides a nice "teaching moment" for parents with their kids, giving a nice lever to speak about the value of a good diet. On eating, another nice question: "Why do foods taste different?" "Why do we shiver when we get cold"? There is a nice sidebar for parents here, and the text makes the answer to kids pretty accessible. All in all, I rather like this volume, more so than some others in the series. It will be a good resource for kids, and it provides a chance for Mom and Dad to speak with their children about issues of real interest.