For Your Own Protection

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-- Breathtaking photographs are teamed with an overambitious and ultimately confusing text. Cobb tries to explain techniques of scientific photography as well as the bodily and other defenses involved. Her text does not do justice to either the photography or the defenses. Stroboscopic, schlieren, thermographic, and scanning electron micrographic photography are used. Cobb explains what they are and how their use enables us to see things not visible to human eyes. While the photos will mesmerize any child with an ounce of scientific curiosity--and the house mite is enough to give even adults nightmares--graphically there are some problems. The thermographic pictures of a girl's hands one minute apart show the later picture on the left and earlier on the right, which reverses the progression young readers expect. Leaving bodily defense, Cobb goes on to the use of fabric for protection and even to zippers and Velcro. While the photos are wonderful, their inclusion makes the book even less coherent. While there is much interesting information here, and librarians with large budgets may find the pictures so facinating that the purchase of the book is warranted despite the poor organization of the text, most children who try to go beyond the photos will be disappointed. --Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ