Many kids find the human body fascinating. Author Jim Wiese fuels this fascination by combining hands-on activities with information about how the body works. He organizes 50 activities or projects into nine chapters, each chapter dealing with a different body system (skeletal, digestive, and so on). Each project consists of a brief introduction, a list of materials that can be found around the house, a procedure with clear step-by-step instructions, and an explanation of how the project relates to the way the particular body system works. Most projects have sidebars entitled “More Fun Stuff To Do” that encourage readers to experiment further. Longer, less frequent sidebars relate information about a system to practical applications. For example, a discussion of the Eustachian tubes in our ears shows how you can equalize air pressure on both sides of the eardrum while flying.

While many of the projects are interesting and enlightening, the presentation of the information and the book’s design do little to attract young readers. Introductions to chapters and explanations of projects are written in a dry straightforward manner with little attempt to hook the readers’ interest by using a device such as humour. The use of many physiological terms assumes that readers have basic background knowledge about the body. Fortunately, a six-page glossary is included. More of the black-and-white illustrations might have helped the readers’ understanding of how the body functions. In spite of its drawbacks, this book would serve as a good resource for teachers teaching a unit about the human body.