The Digestive System

Children's Literature

The intent of the Lucent's "Understanding the Human Body" series is to explore different systems of the human body, each in its own volume. Discussion of the digestive system opens with "A Journey Down the Food Tube," launching into a detailed, clear description of the many stages of digestion, from food intake to absorption by cells. Why and how food, water, vitamins and minerals are essential to the body are discussed. There is an interesting chapter on "events in the food tube," including bad breath, choking, gas, and burping, as well as the effects of starvation. A chapter on current technologies used to diagnose and treat the digestive system wraps up the book. This volume in the series contains vital diagrams to present the system and black-and-white photos, the latter offering mainly annotations that add information to the text. As with other books in the series many words are defined in the text that are not included in the glossary. Suggested book references are not timely; most having been published in the mid-1990s, however, suggested Web sites are child-oriented. Book references consulted by authors are dated, including one published in 1970 and one 1979, however one NIH digestive disease Web site was consulted. A glossary and index are included. Both authors are middle/high school science teachers. A good research source for in-depth information and reports, useful to adult readers as well. 2003, Lucent Books/Gale Thomson Learning, Ages 12 up.
— Elaine Wick

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-These clearly written overviews give basic facts about these systems. In each title, the five brief chapters are often divided into subtopics for ease of access. Many statistics are given, making these books useful for reports. The average-quality, black-and-white photos are not always well captioned, leaving readers to wonder what is going on in some pictures. The diagrams, on the other hand, are well labeled and aid understanding. Students needing report materials will find these books helpful.-Marilyn Fairbanks, Azure IRC, Brockton High School, MA Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.