Sam's Science: I Know Where My Food Goes

Using enthusiastic language and fetching graphics, these first titles in a new science series successfully break down the complicated processes of the human body. In Food, a lunch of pizza and salad gets Sam's saliva going, offering knowledgeable and resourceful Mom a segue into a discussion of how the body processes food, from ingestion to elimination. McEwen's (Cows in the Kitchen) cartoony illustrations are full of attention-getting props: Sam's mother is shown inside a stomach, stirring up juices with a wooden spoon; when Mom explains that the small intestine is as long as a giraffe is tall, a giraffe materializes in the kitchen. In Germs, Sam and his mother are working in the garden as golden leaves begin to blow off trees; Sam's sneeze precipitates a conversation about the spread of germs. Among the images McEwen employs here are evil-looking green bacteria attempting to ram into a medieval fort constructed of scabs. The authors do not avoid exploring the most fascinating concerns of children, e.g., burping, pooping and picking scabs. In both titles, the art is fun and the facts are simple and sound--even if spinach gets a bum rap in each. Ages 5-7. (Jan.)