Customer Reviews

Uncover the Human Body: An Uncover It Book

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Remember the great "Visible Man" and "Visible Woman" anatomical model kits by Revell? After several hours or days of careful painting, gluing and assembling, you had a human figure with clear plastic skin, through which were visible the skeleton and internal organs. Best of all, you could remove the chest plate and remove those insides to study how they all fitted together. It was one of the coolest model kits ever, and an invaluable anatomical reference for the budding surgeon or the medically curious. It was also a tempting target for little hands.
Well, Uncover the Human Body, written by Luann Colombo and illustrated by a host of artists, safely satisfies the curiosity of the owners of those little hands, and also delights their parents (or in this case, uncle) with its clever construction and wealth of useful and fascinating information. Each page is made of sturdy cardboard, and the entire center of the book is cut out in the shape of a human figure. Suspended within this cutout by support rods of clear plastic are parts of the skeleton and the various organ systems (minus the reproductive system) - eight layers in all, including the front cover. It's based on the same concept as those acetate pages in an encyclopedia that show human anatomy, but in this case the body parts are sculpted in the round from plastic, affording an even more coherent view of just how all those "guts" fit together inside your body. It even includes the musculature of the left arm and leg.
The text is well-researched and clearly-written with children in mind. It can be read aloud to younger children, and those who already read well can enjoy it on their own. The fact entries have humorous titles, such as "Gimme Some Skin!" and "Of All the Nerve!" Difficult words are italicized and followed by pronunciation guides. The scientific names for body functions are paired with the more commonly-used terms with which children may already be familiar. It contains fun little experiments children can do with little or no supervision, such as the de-calcification of a chicken bone in vinegar and a recipe for fake blood.
However, this is not strictly kid stuff. I've been an armchair anatomist for decades, and yet I learned things from the text that were never quite clear to me or that simply had not been addressed in my studies. (For example, the exact purpose of the small intestine; atlas and axis vertebrae; lobes of the lungs; that when you feel thirsty, you're already a little dehydrated, etc.)
A few words of caution: the book does contain small plastic parts that could be broken or ripped out, so keep it out of reach of children under three years or who tend to break their toys. Also, the model is not intended to be removed from the book, and would not fit together properly without the support of the pages anyway. These caveats aside, Uncover the Human Body makes a great gift for children who are endlessly fascinated by the body and how it works.

After endless questions about what her body "looked like on the inside" I purchased this book for my 4 year old daughter. Of course most of the information is way beyond her right now but it's easy to cover the basics in terms she can understand and use the book as the reference point. She loves the way the body is "uncovered" layer by layer as she turns the pages. The best part is since it's full of information this book will stay in her library for years to come. Sure there are other body books out there for young children but none of them can hold a child's attention and spark their curiosity quite like this one. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Our daycare has this book and the teacher structured almost a week's of lessons around it. Even Kindergarteners are interested in the major organs, what they look like, what they are shaped like, and the 3D quality makes it much more real, and more interesting, than your standard 2D book. My daughter likes it so much I am getting a copy as a Christmas gifr.

We got this for our 4 year old because he was at the stage where he was asking so many questions about how the body works. It is fantastic! I love the little skeleton inside. Every page reveals a different layer that is explained on that page. He loves the book and will actually sit and look at it without my help now. Definitely would recommend this book!

The "Uncover" series are very nice books but the human anatomy book has the pelvic girdle bone placed backwards. It's a pretty huge mistake and I noticed it immediately. Other than that it's a pretty good book.

My 7 year old, 4 year old and I all have fun looking at this book. it can be used as in introduction to the human body for younger children or to study more deeply for older children. And it's just fun to watch how all the parts interlock and open up.

This is one of my 8 year-old's favorite books: she asked for it when she was 6 and is constantly rereading it. Now that she is a very scientific 8 year old, and has other books in the Uncover series, she has raised questions as to why the reproductive system is included in the tarantula book but not in the human body book. She would also like to know whether the body is a boy's or a girl's, because she cannot tell and thinks that's strange. I think these are good questions in a book designed for ages 8 and up. But I couldn't give it less than five stars because she loves it so and has learned so much from it.

Although I purchased this book to replace the one lent to me by a friend, I must say it is one of the neatest books I've ever seen. To actually see the pieces and parts of the body and be able to touch them is a terrific way to learn. The illustrations and explanations in the text are accurate & clear. We homeschool so this has been a valuable addition to our library. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because it's fragile, as I found out when my 15-month-old broke the leg out of the muscle section of the book. If you have little ones, keep this book high up and out of their grasp so it'll last 'til they grow up enough to appreciate it.

I ordered this to do an at-home science curriculum with my son, along with some other human body products. When this came, I thought it was very original and cool! I guess I didn't realize what it would be like when I ordered it, and it is a lot neater than I expected. My 8 year old son thinks it is interesting to look at, and easy to understand. Every page you turn basically removes a layer of the human body to uncover the next layer and descriptions corresponding to the newly uncovered organs, bones, muscles, etc. I have never seen anything like this book. Very unique idea! Great way to give your kids a hands-on experience when learning about the body and to learn how all our parts fit, and work, together. The only thing I took off a star for is the possible durability of this book. The body pieces are pretty fragile, and you have to close the book just so to get it to all fit together. Maybe this is why they rate it ages 9-12, too, because younger kids would probably destroy it.

I did alot of research to find just the right book for my 7 year old, and am very happy with this book. We both love the way the parts of the body are 3-D in the middle of the book. He can identify most of the parts after just a few sit downs with me. Some of the text is too old for him, but it's easy to simplify the material to age appropriate levels. We will be able to use this book for many more years adding on information as he gets older!