By the time you finish reading this sentence, your heart will have beaten up to 50 times.

REVIEWS:

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

In The Heart Simon presents as clear and thorough a look at the human circulatory system as he has at so many other subjects. With the aid of computer-enhanced photographs taken with an electron microscope, Simon explains the system of…

In The Heart Simon presents as clear and thorough a look at the human circulatory system as he has at so many other subjects. With the aid of computer-enhanced photographs taken with an electron microscope, Simon explains the system of blood vessels, the role of blood, lungs, and the heart, and a few of the problems which can develop in the circulatory system. At times he uses familiar references to make a point, explaining, for example, that the heart weighs only "about ten ounces, about as much as one of your sneakers." The text, layout, diagrams, and photographs work together to make an eye-catching and useful book.

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SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY

Grade 3-5. Simon approaches the human heart as he approached outer space and oceans: as an adventure to be explored. As always, the full-page, full-color photographs are spectacular, and the text is crisp and full of detail. In a conversational…

Grade 3-5. Simon approaches the human heart as he approached outer space and oceans: as an adventure to be explored. As always, the full-page, full-color photographs are spectacular, and the text is crisp and full of detail. In a conversational yet instructive style, the author presents young readers with fascinating information that will almost certainly spur them on to read more. Topics include types of blood vessels, coronary bypass surgery, strokes, and anatomy of the heart. There is no index, but since each two-page spread clearly addresses a specific topic, one isn't necessary.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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BOOKLIST, Carolyn Phelan

Gr. 3-6. "Make a fist. This is about the size of your heart. Sixty to one hundred times every minute your heart muscles squeeze together and push blood around your body though tubes called blood vessels." Using the same format…

Gr. 3-6. "Make a fist. This is about the size of your heart. Sixty to one hundred times every minute your heart muscles squeeze together and push blood around your body though tubes called blood vessels." Using the same format as Simon's series on astronomy, this well-designed book introduces the human circulatory system: the heart, the blood, the arteries and veins, the transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide, the functions of various blood cells, and heart problems and their solutions. The text is succinct and direct, making the details understandable without losing the sense that the whole process of circulation is "strange and wonderful." On most spreads, the text appears on the left in fairly large type, while the illustrations appear on the facing pages. These often striking pictures include many computer-enhanced photographs as well as diagrams and highly enlarged images made possible by electron microscopes. Handsome and well-conceived in every way, this book provides an excellent introduction to its subject.

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KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Make a fist. This is about the size of your heart," Simon begins, and with this simple, concrete image he introduces the wonders of the human heart, circulatory system, and blood to a picture-book audience. Elsewhere, even abstract ideas become…

"Make a fist. This is about the size of your heart," Simon begins, and with this simple, concrete image he introduces the wonders of the human heart, circulatory system, and blood to a picture-book audience. Elsewhere, even abstract ideas become comprehensible, e.g., the average human body contains about twenty-five trillion red blood cells, or ``hundreds of times more blood cells than there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy.'' Stunning full-color photos appear on every page, many taken inside the human body with scanners, X rays, and other devices, and then computer-enhanced. The same science savvy and enthusiasm that has made Simon's titles on the universe so popular has been turned inward to uncover extraordinary facts about the human body. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8+)
Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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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…

"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.

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