A useful guide for readers wanting a Christian look at boys’ physical and sexual development.
“Dr. Walt” offers advice with a Christian perspective for boys wondering about their bodies as they enter puberty.
More specifically, this is a volume aimed at Christian fathers of boys ages 10 to 13, so fathers can be ready with answers to sometimes tricky questions. Topics are covered through 30 questions on how boys’ bodies change, how much sleep is necessary, what if friends try alcohol, how to avoid pornography, what’s wrong with tattoos and body piercings and even three questions about testicles. It’s purportedly information readers can trust, presented “through the lens of a biblical worldview,” all reviewed by the Christian Medical Association. God is the common denominator behind all answers here. Differences in penis size? It’s “the way God designed each one of us.” Masturbation? “Sexual fantasies are forbidden for Christians.” In Larimore’s perspective, “God invented sex,” but only “to be experienced between a husband and a wife in marriage.” Parents wanting to stay within the confines of Christian doctrine will find this volume informative. Other readers may want to go elsewhere to find a guide more open to a more encompassing worldview.
A useful guide for readers wanting a Christian look at boys’ physical and sexual development. (note to parents, appendices, afterword) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-310-72323-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
Occasionally clever—fifth-grade boys will love it.
“There is a lot of nonsense written about the human body,” writes the author, “and this book is no exception.”
Though not quite making good on his promise of “100 percent fact-free chapters,” (he does accurately describe “chondrolaryngoplasty”) Griffiths’ anatomical tour in general steers clear of anything that would be marked as correct on a test. From “Ears can be big or small, depending on their size” to “Capillaries are the larval form of butterflies,” he offers pithy inanities about 68 mostly real body features. Though he closes every entry with “That is all you need to know about…,” he then goes on to regale readers with the news that the epiglottis was named after a Greek philosopher and other “Fun Body Facts.” Similarly, noting that his illustrations “may not be scientifically accurate” (the understatement of the decade), Denton nonetheless provides on nearly every spread profusely labeled, free-association cartoon views of each body part. These are filled out with tiny figures, mechanical apparatus and miscellaneous junk. Though serious young researchers may be disappointed to find the “Private Parts” pages blacked out, a full index follows to provide ready access to any references to poo, pus, farts, drool, “sneeze-powered missiles” and like essentials.
Occasionally clever—fifth-grade boys will love it. (Humor. 10-12)Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-36790-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Riveting as well as enlightening, this is built on a largely sturdy historical base.
Huey, an archaeologist, explains just why time travel is not for the weak of stomach.
Ah, the pleasures of a quick trip back to the 18th century—when people emptied chamber pots out of windows, free-roaming animals dumped poop on city streets, clothes were seemingly designed to be uncomfortable, and baths were rare (but infestations of lice, bedbugs, flies and intestinal parasites were not). Images of bugs scuttling over period illustrations and photos of pests and artifacts add vividly evocative notes to this rousingly unappetizing survey of the time’s fashions, living conditions and (lack of) sanitary practices. The author limits her purview to North American residents of European and African descent in, by and large, urban locales and doesn’t always get her facts straight (yes, there are mosquito species native to Europe). She strews her already sensational narrative with superfluous, boldface insertions of “Eew!” and “Gross!” Still, aside from one photo of a smallpox sufferer that may cross over, she ably walks the line that separates deliciously disgusting from genuinely disturbing.
Riveting as well as enlightening, this is built on a largely sturdy historical base. (endnotes, annotated reading and website lists, places to visit, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7613-9091-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
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