Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers

June 1, 2013

Gr 4-7-Mouse skin eyebrows? Spiders in your ears? Humans with tails? And, by the way, what is the only human organ that can regenerate itself? In this abridged edition of the adult book Why Is Yawning Contagious? (Penguin, 2008), solid scientific information related through unforgettable yet somewhat absurd facts will imprint systematic truths on young minds and provide them with fodder for interesting input to almost any conversation. Used as a preamble and supplement to human-biology studies, this fun book doesn't shy away from any aspect of bodily functions. Kids will likely remember what they read here.-Kathryn Diman, Bass Harbor Memorial Library, Bernard, ME

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2013
Grades 3-5 Recast in simpler language from a 2007 edition aimed at adult audiences (and with some deletions, such as the chapter originally dubbed Amatory Arcana), this Q&A crowd-pleaser is oozing with need-to-know factsfrom a tally of creatures that live on or under our skin to what people used to wipe in the days before toilet paper and why some boogers are green. Coovert's occasional silly cartoon illustrations create a misleading impression, because however titillating the questions (not to mention the title), the answers are more or less serious, accurate, and specific in biological detail. General browsers will be eager to pick out and share juicy passages and can't help but come away with globs of random and sometimes even useful information on topics as diverse as the medical uses of insects to the functions of yawns, goose bumps, hiccups, and ear wax. Curious about the titular caution? It has more to do with what would be going into one's nose on a finger than what would be coming out.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)