The Heart: Our Circulatory System

I like the Seymour Simon books quite a bit because after and during the reading you can always see more in the conspicuously powerful graphics. In this book the young reader will learn about the circulatory systems, both of them. He or she will also learn about red and white blood cells, plasma, arteries, veins, capillaries, and arterioles. One can't read this book and not be awed by the magnificent pump that is our heart, a pump that beats over 30 million times a year and over 2 billion times in a lifetime. Obviously the 4-8 age span listed for this book is nonsense. Seymour Simon does a wonderful job keeping his working vocabulary simple, but in a science text such as this challenging and difficult words are unavoidable. Try writing a book about the heart while omitting words like: aorta, ventricle, atrium, vena cava, pulmonary, vessel, hemoglobin, carbon dioxide, arteriole, capillary, and the list goes on and on and on. A bright elementary school student might be able to get through this book with some assistance. A good middle school student might be able to read it independently. For ages 4-8 be ready to read the book aloud and prepare for some blank stares. I shared this book with several 8-year-olds who loved the pictures, but had serious trouble negotiating the text. The graphics are wonderful, from the crystal clear annotated diagrams to the SEM micrograph photographs of blood cells and platelets. Though I enjoyed the pictures personally, I think they'd be even more powerful and effective had they been printed on glossy, heavy stock paper in colors that pop off the page. The book has no glossary, no pronunciation guides, and no chapters or sections. The Heart is an excellent little book that with a little tweaking could have been astounding.

My nine year old daughter enjoyed the full page pictures in this book and was able to understand the basic concept of the human heart. I'm not sure I would categorize this as a "children's book", although the reading level is probably intended for a third or fourth grader. It served as a good reference for our unit study, but I think The Amazing Circulatory System by Slim Goodbody's Body Buddies is a more interesting and engaging book on the heart.

Another great Seymour Simon book. Enjoy and don't forget to share it with the other kids in your class.

Like "The Brain", this is a great book with a step by step tour into the heart, its location, the chambers, circulation, and different kinds of blood cells. The pictures are amazing and makes one want to read. An excellent scientific health/well being book with excellent color illustrations. I would recommend this book to teachers and students from the 3rd grade through the 10th grades.

My son (7 years old) and I were both entranced by this book. Simon describes our circulatory system in detail, with concrete comparisons that children can easily relate to. He is systematic and complete, yet fascinating. The book also has beautiful, full-page, color illustrations, most of which are electron microscope photographs. A great book