Look inside your Brain (Poke & Look Learning) - Hardcover

This inviting "Poke and Look Learning Book" teaches your child--and maybe even you--the basics of how the brain works. The sturdy board book's cover shows a young girl with a large die-cut hole in her head (a more cheerful than grotesque effect) that reveals a cross-section of her brain, divided into sections such as balance, memory, and exercise that discuss how the brain relates to each function. Look inside Your Brain attempts to make even the most detailed information about the brain seem fun; next to a picture of a neuron, for example, is an illustrated cat saying, "How complicated!" The lively, colorful, cartoonish artwork is sure to engage the inquiring minds on your gift list, even if they can't yet pronounce "cerebral cortex." Ages 5 and up.

Grade 1-3-- This import from Italy introduces the form and function of the brain. Seven double-page spreads cover physiology, voluntary and involuntary actions, senses, memory, learning, and creativity. Some treatments offer simple explanations of the various workings, while others merely state that these activities are a result of brain function. The gimmick here is the die-cut holes across the bottom of the book that act as a simple index. They are confusing however--the symbols that appear on each tab are not always an obvious indication of the heading for that page--a hand for ``. . . Your Five Senses. . .'' and an eye for ``Your Brain Sends Many Messages!'' The organization of the text is equally confusing. ``Messages'' seems to discuss memory, but relates it to the senses offering a diagram of the tongue and taste, while ``Five Senses'' says ``you also have other senses that pick up changes inside your body, like hunger and thirst, pain and dizziness.'' Die cuts also dominate the center of each right-hand page; a large ``puzzle'' of the brain is formed through overlaying cuts. The puzzle piece for each page features labeled pictures of children performing an activity related to the topic under discussion. The rest of each spread consists of two to three paragraphs of text, several full-color cartoon illustrations and diagrams, and a couple of detailed captions. The result is a hodgepodge of information that must be studied piece by piece rather than taken as a whole. Libraries would do better with Paul Showers's Use Your Brain (HarperCollins, 1971; o.p.) or Joy Richardson's What Happens When You Think? (Gareth Stevens, 1986), both of which offer comparable information in a simpler format. --Denise L. Moll, Lone Pine Elementary School, West Bloomfield, MI
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.