The Human Body

Biology for Every Kid

Author(s): 
Janice Van Cleave

In its segment on "Experiments that Teach Us About Ourselves: The Amazing Human Body" this book provides 35 experiments about the body (the other segments of the book are about plant and animal life. While certainly not a comprehensive anatomy course, the book does provide interesting and simple experiments (which can easily performed at home with fairly ordinary materials) that would provide a helpful supplement to the study of anatomy.

Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup and Yawn

Book cover: Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup and Yawn
Author(s): 
Melvin Berger

A simple book with cartoon-like illustrations that explains reflexes and the related workings of the nerovus system – focusing, of course, on those four topics mentioned in the title. The story also invites children to try out a few simple experiments to observe reflexes for themselves. A "Find Out More" section provides "Things to Think About", additional "Test Your Reflexes" ideas and "Fun Facts".

The Heart

Book cover: The Heart
Author(s): 
Seymour Simon

This is a fascinating and colorful look at the heart and the amazing job it performs. Computer-enhanced photos are used to illustrate the heart and the blood vessels while magnified images give us a close-up look at the blood. Also included are simpler illustrations showing the chambers of the heart, it's valves and arteries and the general make-up of arteries and veins and their valves. The text is simple enough to be understood by fairly young children (particularly as a read-aloud) but is written in such a way as to capture the awe and mystery of how our body works.

My First Body Book

Book cover: My First Body Book
Author(s): 
Melanie Rice
Christopher Rice

This is a fun and very kid-friendly introduction to the body and its various functions and capabilities. It begins with a set of transparent overlays which portray the skeleton (skeletal system), the heart, lungs and blood (cardiovascular system), and the brain and nerves and digestive system. When I first got this book (back in the days when I was a DK representative for a short time) I worried that this book wouldn't hold up very well. After more than three years of use by little hands, I have to admit it's done quite well.

My Five Senses

Book cover: My Five Senses
Author(s): 
Aliki

Aliki, in her classic - simple and charming - style, explains each of the five senses for preschoolers. Text and pictures explain what each of the senses is used for - "When I drink my milk and eat my food, I use my sense of taste. I am tasting." My children ask for this book over and over.

See How I Grow

Book cover: See How I Grow
Author(s): 
Angela Wilkes

This well-worn book has been kicked-around, chewed on and well-loved by my young children since my second oldest received it for Christmas just before the birth of his new baby sister (he was two at the time). The book is a photo-story of the author's daughter as she grows from a new baby to an active toddler. Each two-page shows a number of pictures of the baby doing whatever she does best at that given age.

My Hands

Book cover: My Hands
Author(s): 
Aliki

This is a nicely illustrated book for very young children on everything having to do with hands. The very simple text covers the names of the fingers (index, middle, etc.), the sense of touch, right or left-handed, the importance of thumbs and how different hands can be ("Daddy's hands are different from mine. They are big and rough and bony. Mother's hands are soft...") This is a charming little book for helping children appreciate how wonderfully they are made.

My Temple of the Holy Spirit

Book cover: 'My Temple of the Holy Spirit'
Author(s): 
Katherine Rode, R.N.

Subtitled a Catholic Science Hands On Program of the Human Body, this is a program best used with kids in grades 4 to 8. My Temple of the Holy Spirit is a very practical study of seven of the systems of the body from a Catholic and pro-life perspective. It covers various systems of the body, but not the reproductive systems, the integumentary system, or all of the excretory system. It is thoroughly Catholic, with the Faith integrated throughout.