  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 10/01/2011 Hiccups, burps, and flatulence can be the height of humor for the typical elementary-school student (and a decent slice of adults, too). Rather than attempt to remove any sort of levity from these noisy bodily functions, journalist Fromer and family physician Gerstein explain them with a playful attitude and wit that buffet a solid body of factual information. Nearly all ways the body makes noise are explored, including voice, digestive noises, and sneezes. The main message here is that while body noises can be funny, they are completely natural. Weissmann’s squiggly paintings are amusing, even as they always depict doctors as kindly and helpful. The book even includes mention of the cultural nuances regarding tolerance of body noise. Fun facts separate the text into manageable passages, while a glossary helps clarify any unfamiliar medical terms. This entry in the Body Works series offers a fun, frank look at sometimes taboo topics. - Copyright 2011 Booklist. School Library Journal - 11/01/2011 Gr 2–3—Achy Body discusses bruises, scrapes, broken bones, stomach- and earaches, and sore throats. Messy Body covers tears, sweat, earwax, snot, pee, poo, and vomit. The third title addresses burps, hiccups, farts, sneezes, and coughs. The last one focuses on how we grow and includes hair, nails, muscles, bones, and growing pains. The texts have a consistent voice, although no one title has any significant amount of detail. The writing is generally clear, although at times readers may think that basic information is missing. For example, the stomachaches section of Achy Body does not mention vomiting, although that is likely to be the first thing youngsters in this age group would think of. And Messy Body does not specifically mention a virus or stomach flu as a possibility for the symptom. Each spread ends with fun facts and/or a true-false question, and the cartoon illustrations are colorful but not particularly informative. The books have no tables of contents or indexes.—Stephanie Farnlacher, Trace Crossings Elementary School, Hoover, AL - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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