Authors of books for young readers find so many ways to incorporate educational, things-you-need-to-know pieces of information into their writings. The author of today's poetry title has combined poetry, riddles, and nonfiction text in a unique and amusing way to explore the parts of the body. I was truly impressed with the creativity that was tapped to create this very special book.
Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy riddles in verse
Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy riddles in verse
Leslie Bulion
Illustrated by Mike Lowery
Poetry Book
For ages 7 to 9
Peachtree Publishers, 2015, 978-1-56145-737-3
From an early age children start learning the names of
parts of the body. People have even written little songs to help them learn
where their forehead, nose, elbows, and toes are. When they get older they find
out a little more about their stomach, their teeth, their eyes, their hair and
other parts of their bodies, but do they really know as much as they think they
know?
In this
wonderful book the author offers young readers clever riddles written in verse
to challenge their knowledge of anatomy. Each riddle is accompanied by a
nonfiction section of text, which provides the solution to the riddle and
offers up interesting pieces of information about the body part being
described.
In a poem called
Lunchtime we encounter a “cauldron”
in which “Choice ingredients” are mixed. Here “Flesh of fowl,” “Wheat paste,”
and “Plant parts” are combined with a “pulverizing rumble.” What on earth could
this body part be? It turns out that this rather stomach churning riddle is
describing…the stomach, which, we are told, “churns food into a thick, liquidy
shake called chyme.”
Further along in
the book we encounter a sonnet that describes something that is cone-shaped and
that is protected by a “cage of bone.” Apparently this body part is important,
for in some way “the very stuff of life depends” on the way it works. The note
that goes with this puzzle tells us that the riddle is describing the heart.
This muscular vital vessel has four chambers and it pumps blood throughout the
body.
In this
incredibly clever title we see how a riddle can be a work of word art and a
puzzle at the same time. Children will enjoy trying to figure out the solutions
to the riddles, and they will be astonished to learn how the various body parts
work.
No comments:
Post a Comment