Safety First

From The Critics

This beautifully illustrated series is for second and third graders, but younger students would also enjoy and learn from the colorful photographs. Bright primary and other colors are used throughout, smiling children and helpful adults are pictured, and three charts are shown. Boys and girls and different races are represented, and a variety of foods, activities, settings, situations, and signs are depicted. Each book has a one-page table of contents, a two-page glossary, a half-page index, and a list of three more books to read. A Healthy Body covers muscles, joints, bending and stretching, standing and lifting, balancing, and resting and playing. The book includes a photograph of intensely focused wheelchair racers and thus shows athletes with disabilities. Eat Well has the usual food pyramid and discusses fruits and vegetables, fiber, protein, calcium, etc., but also food allergies, including those to peanuts, and the importance of checking ingredients. Safety First examines poisons and medicines, helmets, seat belts, fire and water safety, cycling, and getting help when it is needed. The book shows the sign "Danger, Keep Out" at a construction site alongside railroad tracks and depicts electrical wires to illustrate where not to play. Clean and Healthy discusses hand washing, germs, blood, head lice, pets and wild animals, sunblock, brushing teeth, visiting the dentist and doctor for regular checkups, and vaccines. (from the Safe and Sound Series.) Highly Recommended, Grades 1-4. REVIEWER: Ellen R. Paterson (State University of New York)