Your Digestive System (Searchlight Books ™ ― How Does Your Body Work?)

Rebecca L. Johnson writes award-winning nonfiction for children and young adults about scientific discoveries and the scientists who make them. She hopes her books will inspire new generations of scientists by introducing readers to some of the remarkable species with whom we share the planet. Learn more at www.rebeccajohnsonbooks.com.

The digestive system is made up of the tongue, the esophagus, the stomach, the intestines, and other parts. But what does the digestive system do? And how do its parts work together to keep your body healthy? Explore the digestive system in this engaging and informative book.

"Explore different aspects of how your body works as basic knowledge and general information are given. Well-defined chapter titles, basic sentence structure, and plenty of white space are perfect for early readers. Smaller text boxes placed near images on each page provide thoughtful questions or state additional facts. Photos are crisp and vibrant, diagrams are simple yet informative, and there are images of specific body parts. This is an informative series for the inquisitive reader who wants to know basic facts about how our body works." ―Library Media Connection

"This series will be useful in any collection needing updated texts about the human body. The titles clearly explain what functions each of the six systems performs. The design is eye-catching and attractive, with lots of clean white space and an easy-on-the-eyes font. Captioned photographs or colorful diagrams appear on every page. Many of the photographs were taken with a microscope and are sure to fascinate children. In every volume, the detailed photo captions and sidebars provide additional interesting factoids that complement the main texts. For example, readers learn in Respiratory that 'You can sing high and low by tightening your vocal cords.' These titles will appeal to browsers, and the strong back matter makes them useful for reports as well." --School Library Journal, Series Made Simple

Asking questions and discovering how and why things work are often the starting points of any scientific inquiry. For children, many initial questions are often centered on the human body. Why do we eat? What organs help me breath? Why don’t I have to tell my heart to beat, yet I tell my feet to move? This Lerner series presents information for intermediate readers to answer these questions and many others about systems of the body.
In Your Digestive System, the fuel from food is identified. Those nutrients provide energy to complete activities, repair damaged cells, and even help you grow. Making healthy food choices gives the body what it needs, but eating too much may cause the body to store up those extra nutrients as fat and that is unhealthy. Eating too few nutrients may also cause problems, so a balanced diet is required to be strong and healthy. What organs are part of the digestive system? From the tongue and salivary glands, down the esophagus to the stomach, and from there to the small intestine, liver, and beyond, organs of the digestive system are introduced. The structure and function of each organ and how it supports the entire system, enabling food to be broken down and absorbed into the body, is explored. Unabsorbed wastes move from the small intestine to the large intestine and eventually out of the body through the anus. Magnified pictures of the mucus coating in the stomach, finger–like projections, villi, of the small intestine, and muscles of the large intestine, provide the reader with a point of reference as the inside of the human body is conceptualized.
Each book in the series focuses on one system as well as its interaction with other systems to keep the entire organism functioning. Photographs and diagrams appear as pages are turned to complement and pull the reader into the text. Questions are posed creating an interactive text that will delight!
--NSTA