Customer Reviews

Your Skin and Mine: Revised Edition (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)

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

 

 

This book is good for an introduction into hygiene. The lesson on skin gives a good foundation on the body's defense of germs. Used correctly, students will be able to see how hygiene fits into the infection control equation, whether at home, school or play. When they know that the body is better when their defense is high, they can continually act responsibly to have better health. This book is best when paired with a hygiene lesson or other infection control activity (environmental cleaning, hand washing, etc.).

OUTFOX
OUTFOXprevention.com

My two girls loved this book. My 4-year-old really enjoyed looking at her skin under the magnifying glass.

My five year old is intrigued by this book. Although the book suggests using a magnifying glass to do so, the observations it asks the reader to make can largely be done by the eye. I read it to him at night and, lying in bed, he and I look at our own skins and spot the similarities and differences in a gentle game of observation. It encourages the act of looking at the familiar with a new and curious eye. And the information it gives is solid and uncondescending.

Detailed explanations on the two layers of skin and feeling your skin. Your Skin and Mine centers around four kids, Mary, Henry, Mark and the other one is a boy who is telling the story and never offers his own name for the reader to learn. On page 24 they go into detail on melanin, which is grains of color to protect the body from the sun. He states that Mark's skin makes a lot of this while Henry and Mary's skin does not. There is no explanation on how he knows this or why it is different.

He has freckles on his skin and in the summer his skin does not make enough of melanin so he needs to rub on lotion. It is explained that darker skin can get burned by the sun so all should wear sunscreen. Mary and Henry have light brown skin and Mark has dark brown. This boy with freckles is the only one to have white skin.

This little boy and his sister helped their Mother clean the attic while wearing their bathing suits. This seemed funny to my son and he wondered why the boy was not wearing a shirt and the girl almost knocked over a lamp while chasing a spider with the broom. It must have been summer time since the siblings went outside to hose off the dirt from cleaning. He said his Mother thought this was easier than washing more dirty clothes. This is one idea I wish that was not in the book, as my son will want to do this as well. The last page has the kids cooling off with lemonade explaining how they were cool on the inside and out.

My son did not agree with the toenails and hair cuts not hurting, he did not learn why his fingers get wrinkled and funny looking after taking a bath. Just the past two days we had a new worker in our house and he was full of questions for her as her skin is darker than ours. He wanted to know why her feet were dark, her hair was another shade, how she did the braids and what happened to her nails since they were red. Then he wanted to know about the things in her ears and if they hurt. I still have a need for a book that will help explain differences to my son as this did not really touch upon that aspect. Your Skin and Mine is a nice book but goes off in directions that are of no interest for us at this present time. It would help to know the name of the fourth child and it was not suggested to wear sun glasses, and my son keeps his in his backpack.