How Do We Taste and Smell? (How Your Body Works)

Gr 1-3--Two books that just don't make the grade. Taste and Smell is an overview of how these senses work, while Think explores the brain and nervous system. The writing is very basic, describing nerves as "stringlike," the windpipe as a "tube," etc. Although the information is accurate, the illustrations are confusing to the point of being misleading. A child's profile is used to show how taste buds work, but three of the five captioned arrows point to the same spot on the front of the tongue. The drawings of clear vs. blocked nasal cavities are virtually identical, and the diagram illustrating sensory and motor nerve cells is incomprehensible, with bundles of twizzler-shaped muscles and frankfurter links of nerve cells. Stick with the "Eyewitness" (Knopf), "New True" (Children's Press), and "Magic School Bus" (Scholastic) series for superior treatments of these topics.

Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY

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