La Curiosa Aylen Viaja Por El Cuerpo Humano

PreS-Gr 2-Aylen, an insatiably curious youngster, is delighted when her explorations of the new family home yield real treasure. Inside an old trunk in the basement, she finds a book that is ""Solo para curiosos"" (""Only for the curious""). Inside, she finds an incantation for making oneself microscopically small. Aylen uses it to shrink herself and, after hopping in a glass of soda, is swallowed by her father. In her peregrinations through his innards, she finds his thoughts, sees herself in them, and is convinced of his love for her. This charming story, engagingly told and beautifully put together, is a fount of misinformation on the structure of the human body. For example, Aylen rides through the circulatory system, but sees her father's heart from the outside. Signs within his body direct her here and there, so that readers will have no real idea of the way corporeal systems relate. A four-page fact section at the end of the book goes some way toward correcting the informational lapses in the story, as do the illustrations, which are a fascinating meld of cartoon drawings imposed on or integrated into photographs. The resultant visual feast shows fairly realistic neurons, bronchia, and muscles, while presenting the peppy Aylen to good advantage. Children will enjoy this lighthearted romp with a plucky protagonist, but for accurate information on the human body, stick with Joanna Cole's El autobs m gico en el cuerpo humano (The Magic Schoolbus Inside the Human Body, Econo-Clad Books, 1999).Ann Welton, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA