(3) K-3 Inside Your Body series. In a calm and reassuring tone, simple texts cover the basics of these common maladies and injuries: causes, symptoms, treatment, prevention, etc. Medical terms are included; glossary words are in bold, while other words are defined matter-of-factly within the text (e.g., anaphylaxis is described as "a very serious allergic reaction"). Plentiful bright photographs and a few cartoon graphics round out the straightforward presentations. Glos. Review covers these Inside Your Body titles: All About Allergies, All About Broken Bones, All About Colds, All About Cuts and Bruises, All About Ear Infections, and All About Sore Throats.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 Donkey-donkey is envious of his friend Pat the horse's small ears and feels self-conscious about his own long, sticking-up ears. The other farm animals recommend he change his appearance, further eroding his self-confidence. A sparrow and a little girl succeed in showing Donkey-donkey to love himself for who he is. Cheerful fine-lined illustrations with washes of color add humor to Donkey-donkey's plight.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(3) K-3 Ear-protectors had existed since the early 1870s, but Chester Greenwood improved the earmuff; he received a patent in 1877 at age nineteen. Thus, his is not the story of an inventor but one of how inventors often improve upon previous patents. McCarthy's signature bug-eyed characters perfectly represent her subject's lighthearted, wide-eyed curiosity. Notes on historical thinking and patents are appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider

(3) K-3 Super Simple Body series. Halvorson provides brief, accurate explanations of how human organs work. Clear diagrams, color photographs, and friendly illustrations contribute to an attractive look; open-ended questions lead readers to consider their own bodies and experiences. Clever, accessible hands-on activities using everyday materials aid understanding: simulate vocal cords with a balloon, explore hearing with a tin can phone, and so on. Glos. Review covers these Super Simple Body titles: Inside the Ears, Inside the Eyes, Inside the Heart, and Inside the Lungs.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Sandcastle: All About Your Senses series. These books for beginning readers offer a few facts about the senses in a clear and humorous way. Close-up photos of children's faces on left-hand pages illustrate and personalize the scant information. Three facts about each sense and a quiz are appended. Glos. Review covers these Sandcastle: All About Your Senses titles: Ears Are for Earrings, Eyes Are for Winking, Hands Are for Holding, and Mouths Are for Smiling.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Animal Bodies Up Close series. These books look at the ways animals use parts of their bodies, concluding with how humans use the same body part. Each of eight double-page spreads includes a photograph of the animal, a close-up of the featured part, and a few easy-to-read sentences about how the animal uses said body part. An appended guessing game introduces new information. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Animal Bodies Up Close titles: Amazing Eyes Up Close, Fantastic Feet Up Close, Incredible Ears Up Close, Nifty Noses Up Close, Talented Tails Up Close, and Terrific Tongues Up Close.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Philippe Béha. Poor King Boyan: his human head sports the ears of a goat. Barber after barber note this fact, to Boyan's dismay, until young Igor calmly accepts the king's anatomical anomaly in stride. Eventually the secret gets out, but the king, released from his self-consciousness by Igor's attitude, no longer cares. Sophisticated collages accompany this engaging tale of self-acceptance.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) K-3 This cheerful book (originally published in 1933 with black-and-white illustrations) is about a "nice little donkey" who's unhappy with his long ears and tries to change his appearance. Sticking his ears out sideways like a sheep, forward like a pig, and down like a dog all precipitate disasters until he listens to a sparrow who tells him to be himself.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz

(3) K-3 Bright and Early Book series. Illustrated by Henry Payne. "We hear a Ding. We hear a Dong. We hear a Ping. We hear a Pong." Snappy onomatopoeia-filled rhymes make up the text of this newly illustrated edition starring a big-eared boy who tunes in to his environment. The comical art gets the text's humorous elements just right.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) YA Body Focus series. Twenty-one double-page spreads introduce human organs/systems and functions. Each spread includes several full-color diagrams, photomicrographs, photos, and clear, accurate information boxes. Each book ends with a "What Can Go Wrong...?" section that features a chart summarizng various disorders and symptoms, as well as prevention and treatment. Further reading. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Body Focus titles: Ears, Eyes, The Immune System, Muscles, Brain, and Spinal Cord and Nerves.]

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Kaleidoscope series. Very basic anatomy, function, and a few common disorders (e.g., ear infections, constipation) are described in straightforward, simple language. Use of the second person involves readers, and each spread includes a full-page photo or diagram. A few diagrams in Ears and Eyes are either not fully labeled or not placed next to the corresponding text. Directory, reading list. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Kaleidoscope titles: Digestion, The Ears, The Eyes, and Teeth.]

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Senses series. These compelling books discuss everything from the interplay between the featured sense and the brain, to the anatomy of the ears and nose, to how to protect them. "Try this!" sidebars suggest the simplest (and safest) of sense-related experiments. The information-rich captions alongside the crisp color photos compete for attention with the main text, but the facts are interesting throughout. Glos., ind. Review covers these Senses titles: Hearing and Smelling.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 As always, Simon's remarkable ability to write concisely, accurately, and appealingly makes this book readily accessible to young readers. While children will certainly be awed by the colorful, full-page images (including microscopic views of the body and several optical illusions), the pictures aren't always clearly referenced, and there is no discussion of scale, detail, or the technology used to create the images.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) 4-6 Body Matters series. This refreshing series, which follows a question-and-answer format, takes the nag out of teaching kids about health and hygiene by alternating succinct, lucid bursts of information with color photos of real-looking kids taking care of themselves. Several books contain diagrams and magnified images; all conclude with a page of "amazing facts"; Couch and Bed offer tips on keeping a diary. Reading list. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Body Matters titles: Why Should I Brush My Teeth?, Why Should I Eat This Carrot?, Why Should I Get Off the Couch?, Why Should I Go to Bed Now?, Why Should I Turn Down the Volume?, Why Should I Wash My Body?, and Why Should I Wash My Hair?.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Five Senses series. Illustrated by Cynthia C. Lewis. Lots of hands-on activities and easy experiments invite readers to explore sound, normal human hearing, auditory illusions, and exceptional ears such as those with perfect pitch. Cobb uses questions and second-person address to engage readers with the facts. Kids will laugh at the illustrations: combinations of cartoons, collage, dialogue balloons, and goofy comments and captions.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Senses series. In the books in this series, close-up color photos with lots of action face simple, declarative sentences describing how we experience the world around us. (Curiously, Hearing and Touch do not mention the organ that allows us to experience the sensation.) The text of each ends with a question for readers. A final section lists the controlled vocabulary by part of speech and includes a word/picture match. [Review covers these Senses titles: The Five Senses, Sense of Hearing, Sense of Sight, Sense of Smell, Sense of Taste, Sense of Touch.]

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) YA Senses & Sensors series. In addition to the structure of eyes and ears, the books in this series explore how the brain, memory, and learned behavior work in human perception. What people don't see and hear is revealed in descriptions of various animals and their specialized sight and hearing. Final chapters outline recent high-tech breakthroughs. Full-color photos and clearly labeled drawings enhance understanding. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Senses & Sensors titles: Hearing and Seeing.]

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Senses series. Illustrated with large color photos and a few diagrams, about a dozen double-page spreads treat topics such as how each sense works, uses for it, and ways to test it in human beings and other animals. The few sentences of text for each subtopic are generally short and accessible, though occasionally superficial. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 Explore Your Senses series. Each double-page spread describes a different aspect of each of the five senses, including anatomy, physiology, comparisons with animal senses, disorders, technology to extend human senses, and damage prevention. Full-color photographs and anatomical drawings provide support and examples for the clear texts, which include ways readers can test their own senses. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges