The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (Kingfisher First Reference) [Hardcover]

Richard Walker (Author), Roy Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Kingfisher First Reference

This informative and activity-filled reference introduces younger children to human biology in a lively and accessible way. The book's thematic structure makes it easy for young readers to understand the various systems and organs that make up the body. Dozens of activities and experiments, including - Keeping a food diary (to analyze diet) - provide children with the opportunity to reinforce newly learned information. Full-color spreads address the questions that fascinate children, such as: What are we made of?, Why do we need to sleep?, and How do we breathe? A reference section at the back of the book includes a glossary, an index, and an 'Amazing facts' section. Special Features: Over 1,000 appealing, colorful photographs and illustrations. Clear and easy-to-understand definitions. Related activities and projects. Vocabulary carefully chosen for the 5-8 yr. reading level. Cross-references encourage further exploration.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Earning high marks for visual appeal, this introduction to human anatomy features photos of bright-faced children posed on every page, along with plenty of informative, color-enhanced views of insides and outsides. The arrangement is topical, tending toward the one-topic-per-spread format but with larger subjects given more space; one spread is devoted to the structure of the human hand, the nervous system gets four (five if you count one on "Sleep"), and reproduction, from "Egg and Sperm" to "Similarities," takes up six. The text is blocked into scattered paragraphs of, at most, a half dozen sentences, and for all its brevity is pleasantly precise and specific, e.g., "In the cortex and medulla [of the kidney] there are about one million tiny filtering units called nephrons." Each spread includes cross-references, and many also feature simple demonstrations or activities. Concluding with a gathering of surprising facts, a glossary, a three-page quiz ("Your lungs are spongy because they are filled with millions of tiny air bags called: a) alveoli; b) ravioli; c) aioli"), and a spare but not perfunctory index, this engaging alternative to Steve Parker's Human Body (DK, 1993) and like surveys will enhance young inquirers' understanding of, and appreciation for, their marvelous bodies.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Children's Literature

If you are planning on purchasing only one new human body reference book this year for your children's collection, try this informative single volume encyclopedia...It is a solid choice for teachers, librarians, and parents.

Library Journal
Earning high marks for visual appeal, this introduction to human anatomy features photos of bright-faced children posed on every page, along with plenty of informative, color-enhanced views of insides and outsides.

Science Book & Fiction

This richly illustrated book with numerous color illustrations and photographs introduces the human body to young people and provides activities children can participate in to learn more about the body...Younger children will find the pictures themselves very interesting, and those same pictures can provide the basis for adult explanations. Older children will be able to read and interact with the book on their own. At $16.95, the book would be a very worthwhile addition to a library collection for children or for parents and children to share as part of a home library.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Kingfisher (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753451778
• ISBN-13: 978-0753451779
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Children's
  • #82 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most excellent purchase!, April 14, 2006

By 

Sherry Loveland "Anthropolywog" (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (Kingfisher First Reference) (Hardcover)

I actually first looked at this book just because it only had a one star rating and I wondered why. When I learned that, it was because it had children's level sex ed I bought it immediately. My 5 year old was trying to figure out what a birthday was for and I needed a little visual assist to help him understand that he came from my belly on that day. Really, the sex ed of this book is perfect for small children. It shows a big blow up of an egg surrounded by sperm. It has two basic anatomy drawings of what is in a woman and what is in a man with no deep detail; they are small and dull in comparison to the Sperm and Egg multicolor blow up of a microscope picture. It shows on the next two pages a baby developing in the womb. It's just drawings and it has an ultra sound of the profile of a baby's head. Nothing about how the baby gets in there, nothing about how it comes out, just very basic things a small child can understand (I highly recommend it for the 5 year old set). It is very colorful and shows much of the anatomy in relation to children's bodies.
The whole book is wonderful. It is drawings and pictures of all the major systems of the body. They are detailed enough that you can see all the stuff that is under our skin, but it is written simply. On the muscles of the face, rather than name them they say, "These muscles make you blink, these muscles make you smile." Very kid friendly and related to questions kids will ask. This is good for a beginner reader who is old enough to be curious about how the body works. It also has little boxes at the bottom of many pages with experiments that kids can do to give hands on visuals about the lessons presented. My son has been fascinated by it since it arrived and looks through it at least once a day. He spends time marveling at the pictures and how cool people are on the inside. There is nothing gruesome in it though it does broach things like available artificial body parts. I guess it could be useful in explaining Grandma or Grandpa's operation. What I like the most is, it has real anatomical pictures with captions that are kid friendly and easy to understand. I highly recommend this for small children so long as you are comfortable with them knowing about all of their body parts and not just some of them.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just so you know. . ., January 22, 2009

By 

Tracey C. Taylor (Pittsgrove, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (Kingfisher First Reference) (Hardcover)

Like all the other Kingfisher "First" books, this one is lovely and well suited to elementary-age minds and reading levels. Lots of pictures and nice, large print; lots of cool experiments. As for the controversial section on reproduction, this is exactly how it reads: "To make a baby, a man puts his penis inside a woman's vagina to release sperm. The sperm swim toward the egg and fertilize it. The fertilized egg grows into a baby inside the uterus." Frankly, if I could re-write or delete one sentence from this book, I would find nothing else objectionable--but I'm just not sure my six-year-old is ready to wrap his head around this information.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for homeschool science; even younger kids will enjoy it!, January 15, 2011

By 

Jennifer M. Macleod "yiddishe supermama" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (Kingfisher First Reference) (Hardcover)

We all REALLY like this book, a library acquisition that I will probably end up buying to add to our permanent "home library."

There are enough visuals - photos, diagrams, illustrations etc. - that my not-quite-reading 5-year-old can enjoy this encyclopedia on her own, but enough text that we can all cozy up on the sofa and learn with it, too. This is a book that will really grow with my kids - offering knowledge on any level from this age on up.

In case you're concerned because of another reviewer's reference to the book's treatment of human sexuality, there is literally one reference to a man's penis "entering" a woman's vagina. There are also detailed diagrams of both organs on that page.

The very youngest kids probably won't be able to read this for themselves, so you can omit the specifics if you prefer; there is no other reference in the book, though on the next page, a developing embryo is shown, along with a pregnant woman.

Frankly, I wouldn't trust a book on anatomy that LEFT OUT this information, and I believe that any child who has been prepared from an early age with a basic understanding of where babies come from will not be shocked by (or even at first, perhaps, very interested in) the specifics.

As a religious person, I'd see it as my obligation to not only make this information available to my kids, but also use moments like this as an opportunity to talk about the sanctity of their bodies and the marriage in which I hope they will create their own babies someday.

The rest of the book seems unlikely to stir controversy - and quite likely to hold kids' interest, especially with its many opportunities for kids to explore their own bodies - listening to their heartbeat, finding the blind spot on their retinas, etc.

Each page offers a "find out more" box in the lower-right corner with "links" to pages offering related information. A page on sickness offers a quick link to a page on infection, for example. I like the way this book mixes serious scientific knowledge with a sense of fun and fascination.

I have been more impressed by the actually written content of this book than I have with similar offerings from Dorling-Kindersley and other educational publishers. I find the DK books are very busy, and suspect they pander to TV-oriented kids with short attention spans.

The text of this book is well-written and complements the illustrations nicely, which means it will make a fine addition to our homeschool living things science next year as part of our classical / Charlotte Mason approach.