Taking A Detailed Look Inside The Human Body With John Green's Highly-Detailed 'Human Anatomy' Book
Written: May 01 '08
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: 32 pages, 25 illustrations, detailed entries, highly educational.
Cons: Can be hard to find in retail stores.
The Bottom Line: Give your kids a head start in anatomy with this very cool and educational supplement.
|
|
|
| Freak369's Full Review: John Green et al - Human Anatomy in Full Color |
Learning about human anatomy can be a difficult thing for some kids. Some books are too advanced for them and some are a bit too graphic in their depictions. I never had any problems with the boys in regards to them being grossed out by the advanced anatomy books but you know there is something a little disheartening when they are sitting there reading about the procedures of an autopsy, why they are done and comparing what's on their plate for lunch or dinner to what they are seeing in the book. Needless to say, I will never look at a plate of liver and onions the same way again. "Look, the onions look just like the maggots in his skull!". If you don’t have geeks or anatomy freaks in your house you just won't get the humor behind that statement.
Dover Publications "Human Anatomy"
Instead of going with a regular text format, this is in a clear plate style with overlays. To me this gives kids a way to test themselves by lifting the sheet off the page and seeing what they can remember. It's also great if you want to make sure that you are covering all the areas of a unit or chapter. While there isn’t a lot of actual text [in paragraph format] all the parts on the pages are clearly listed. The sections are broken up evenly so there isn't any section that is heavier or more dense with material than others. From the basic overview of a human body featuring the major bones, muscles and joints to the more detailed sections of the nervous system and internal organs, kids are going to get full coverage without getting too graphic.
Some of the best sections, in my opinion, are those that deal with the respiratory, nervous and digestive system; not only are you learning the proper names of them but how one system can help or hinder another if there is disease or damage. The brain gets its own section as does the heart, like the 'systems' pages, there is detail as to what can malfunction and how that can hinder other parts of the body. This is not a comprehensive textbook on human anatomy and it certainly shouldn't be the only book a child has to learn about it but as far as a visual aid to help them learn about the body, it fairs very well compared to others. There are a few companion books that you can buy to enhance what kids are exposed to in this book as well as a write in workbook to help them with labeling parts of the body.
One section that most anatomy books skip over is child development; while this book does have anything about adolescents or puberty it does have a growth chart of a developing fetus. This can be used with the male and female reproductive organs section and can be of help to teens who are taking a sex education class and might need a little extra help. Other sections in the book cover the spine, skull and brain, the heart, blood circulation and the human eye. There are a total of 25 pages with plates and all the information is in an easy to understand format but not watered down. Younger kids might need help with pronunciation but outside of that, it is an extremely easy book to get through, understand and digest.
This is a suggested retail price of $7.95 but you can find it for less at used bookstores as well as online sites that sell gently used titles. If you are looking for a well rounded but not-too-advanced anatomy book, this is a good pick but as I said, it shouldn’t be the only book that a child has access to in regards to human anatomy. The publishers suggest this for kids in the fifth to eighth grade but it can be used by teens and high schoolers for anatomy classes if they didn't get that type of coverage in earlier grades. Is it worth the price? To me it is because of the presentation and format that is used; combined with a workbook or an anatomy text book that can provide more detail about the listings and it is a tremendous visual aid.
The Bottom Line
Dover Publications offers a lot of great learning aids. If you liked this book you may also want to get the "Human Anatomy Activity Set", "Human Anatomy Coloring Book" and "Constructive Anatomy". There are a lot of books like this on the market but most of them are slapped together and don't look at whom the target age group is. This can lead to thing being overlooked or certain areas being skipped over. This is an excellent resource for homeschoolers and something that can be added to a mainstream school curriculum to help kids better understand not just the parts of the body but how they all work together as a single unit.
As always, thanks for the visit…
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2008 Freak369
Biology Experiments For Children
The Zoology Coloring Book
Q Is for Quark: A Science Alphabet Book
Biology: The Science of Life
Atlas of The Human Body
Human Anatomy 100 Piece Floor Puzzle
Explorasaw "Human Body" Learning Kit
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.