Healthy Habits

January 1, 2005
PreS-Gr 1 -Visually appealing at first glance, these books lack the substance and depth necessary to hold the attention of even the youngest students. Weber tends to oversimplify her material, creating confusion in the process. "Body's Business" introduces basic physiology, including the interworkings of the organs and the conversion of food to energy. The strongest of the four titles, it adequately describes the function of each major system in four or five sentences. "Cycle" glances at the human life cycle from conception to death. The text comments that "adoption helps a child's life cycle keep going. Parents take care of their adopted children." The next titledescribes different foods, including meat, milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. The information barely skims the surface. Vitamins are defined as "parts of food that help your body grow and work." In "Healthy Habits, " the author touches on nutrition, exercise, dental hygiene, rest, and washing. However, vague entries in the glossary include "vitamins -something in food that is needed for good health." The colorful photos adorning each page are not sufficient to make these books truly informative to young readers and listeners. Nigel Nelson's" Looking into My Body" (Reader's Digest, 1996) offers more detail and uses color overlays to show physiology; Angela Royston's "Clean and Healthy" (Heinemann Library, 1999) has more comprehensive coverage of hygiene and includes vaccines, pets, and head lice. Ann Douglas's "Before You Were Born" (Maple Tree, 2000; o.p.) focuses on prenatal development in far greater detail." -Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS"

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