The Heart: All about Our Circulatory System and More! (Smithsonian-science)

Exceptional nonfiction for children from two of the most trusted names in science education: Seymour Simon and the Smithsonian Institution.

Children's Literature

"'Make a fist. This is about the size of your heart." From this beginning the author captures the reader. The heart, blood, cells, the entire circulatory system discussed is the reader's own. Clear, uncluttered, but detailed and labeled drawings and computer-colored micrographs give meaning to the precise descriptions of the components and the life-sustaining functioning of this amazing biological system. These dramatic graphics, produced by a scanning electron microscope that enlarges thousands of times what the eye otherwise could not see, command the reader's attention. This book makes the miraculous river within each of us that the heart controls real and at the same time wondrous. Problems, such as blockages and damaged heart valves are explored, as well as the ways these problems may be overcome. Readers should find this book exciting, enlightening and rewarding. 1999 (orig.