4/1/08 Booklist
Following an introduction encouraging kids to contemplate how surface features (hair color, skin color) hide a body structure shared by "everyone . . . in the world," Stewart offers a basic look at human physiology. Senses, teeth, bones, muscles, and major body systems and organs are described in turn, with boldfaced vocabulary such as bile defined at first use and also included in the glossary. The digestive system receives standout treatment in a vertically oriented spread. Taste, smell, hearing, and seeing are all given detailed attention, but touch is mentioned only in a side note. Using the challenging medium of cut paper to depict complex structures, artist Franklin reinforces the facts with impressive clarity while retaining a child-friendly sensibility, which is further aided by the pages' backdrops in a rainbow of flat, bright colors. This sprightly contribution to the Amaze series, all by Stewart and Franklin, will draw young grade-schoolers more than body books filled with dry diagrams, and teachers will welcome the book's three appended activities.