The Respiratory System

Children's Literature

The intent of this Lucent's series "Understanding the Human Body," is to explore different systems of the human body, each in its own volume. Chapter one makes the important distinction between the terms "respiration" and "breathing" and proceeds to succinctly explain the process of acquiring oxygen in the body, delivering it, using it within cells, and disposing of the waste products. A chapter on Respiratory Events discusses things like sneezing, snoring and hiccups. Kids will enjoy the chapter on "Extreme Conditions" that goes into high altitude and underwater issues, and information for mountaineers and divers. Several diseases of the respiratory system are covered followed by a brief chapter on technology used for diagnosing disease and maintaining respiration. Useful diagrams to present the system are included along with black-and-white photos of interest that offer annotations to add information to the text. Suggested book references are not timely, most published in the mid-1990s and two in 1987. The Web sites are child-oriented and focus mainly on underwater diving, with one reference to a site called howstuffworks.com to learn about the lungs. Book references consulted by authors are also somewhat dated. A glossary and index are included. Some complex words defined in the text are not included in the glossary. The authors are both 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