Burps, Boogers, and Bad Breath

Children's Literature

The attractive and informative books in the "Spyglass Books" series that focuses on life science, earth science, and physical science follow a similar format. They open with a table of contents page and then move right into the subject. Each chapter or section features a heading in large type; words that are defined in the glossary are printed in bold. The text consists of mostly declarative sentences. For example, "Did you know you burp or pass gas ten to fifteen times a day?" The pictures on the opposing pages often contain additional information such as "If you want to have less gas, don't gobble your food." The photographs are all labeled and appropriate to the content. The text is simple, since these books are aimed at readers in grades 1 and 2. At the end of the text there is an activity or list of fun facts. In this case after learning about bodily functions, kids are given instructions for an experiment to demonstrate how saliva turns starchy foods into sugar. The bolded words are defined; there is a resource list with a few references, which are reasonably current; a reference to a web site followed by an index and brief introduction to the author. The title alone will guarantee an audience for this book in the series. 2002, Compass Point Books,
— Marilyn Courtot