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A cavernous sweat-pore and much, much more
THE LANCET
The pounds of flesh You weighed one hundred five the day you married. It’s been a battle since— buttocks, abs—but you held fast until this. You swat the child’s hands from your hoops and gold chain. Droolingly, he makes you wipe with juice your blouse and failed thighs, and your weightlessness hoists the burden of gravity. The pounds will disappear in time, I explain. You must have this faith in natural law. (Aquinas would show, within a pound or two, her weight just fits— but he’s not here.) I want to say, Your orange scent is attractive, as are your large breasts, no matter what size your husband wants. Appearances are deceiving, even when you can’t see them. I’m sure the weight will suddenly fade— like what we prize in life—but I don’t know when.
Shine Jenny Pockley
Jack Coulehan Setauket, New York, USA
A cavernous sweat-pore and much, much more Yikes! Your Body Up Close! Mike Janulewicz. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1997. Pp 32. $15. ISBN 0-689-81520-4
ikes is right! A photograph of a dust mite enlarged to the size of a fist, captioned “What’s eating you?”, opens the book. Kids will be hooked and won’t stop turning the pages until they’ve examined every photograph and read every word. This book has everything that an average 7 to 10-year-old needs to be enthralled—fullpage photographs of myster ious body parts (and inhabiting creatures), riddles, and clues about what they’re looking at, an open-the-flap format to find out just what the photos show, and a high gross-out
Y
Vol 350 • December 20/27, 1997
factor. Yikes! Your Body Up Close! is a simple concept: page after page of magnified views of body parts—hair, tongues, teeth, eyes, and so on. But children have never seen them like this. Microphotographs show wormlike hairs emerging through the skin, a leafy taste-bud as big as a cabbage, knobbly gastric glands complete with digesting food particles, a cavernous sweat-pore, and much, much more. The accompanying text is written in a light conversational style, full of wonderfully bad puns. For example, introducing the microphotograph of tooth decay we find, “Don’t expect us to fill you in . . . You should know the drill by now . . . Chew
on this one for a while before you turn the page”. After each tantalising introduction, Mike Janulewicz goes on to describe the photos with humour and fascinating detail. “Red blood cells often stack together because of their shape. They only live for four months, so maybe they need the company?”. Occasional analogies will help children understand the size difference—“Mind you, to look like this, your tooth would need to be about the size of a mailbox”. The book’s only obvious flaw is that many of the microphotographs are black and white shots that have been coloured. This device could confuse younger children, who might take the colours literally. (The text next to a very pink photograph describes, “The two pink cornflakes are dead skin from a mild case of dandruff ”. Does dead skin turn hot-pink?) In addition to being potentially confusing, the mix of tinted and true-colour photographs makes the design quality less than exceptional. But who cares? This book is just too much fun to make bones about.
Fay Robinson 2730 Nor th Greenview, Apt E, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
1865
The pounds of flesh You weighed one hundred five the day you married. It’s been a battle since— buttocks, abs—but you held fast until this. You swat the child’s hands from your hoops and gold chain. Droolingly, he makes you wipe with juice your blouse and failed thighs, and your weightlessness hoists the burden of gravity. The pounds will disappear in time, I explain. You must have this faith in natural law. (Aquinas would show, within a pound or two, her weight just fits— but he’s not here.) I want to say, Your orange scent is attractive, as are your large breasts, no matter what size your husband wants. Appearances are deceiving, even when you can’t see them. I’m sure the weight will suddenly fade— like what we prize in life—but I don’t know when.
Shine Jenny Pockley
Jack Coulehan Setauket, New York, USA
A cavernous sweat-pore and much, much more Yikes! Your Body Up Close! Mike Janulewicz. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1997. Pp 32. $15. ISBN 0-689-81520-4
ikes is right! A photograph of a dust mite enlarged to the size of a fist, captioned “What’s eating you?”, opens the book. Kids will be hooked and won’t stop turning the pages until they’ve examined every photograph and read every word. This book has everything that an average 7 to 10-year-old needs to be enthralled—fullpage photographs of myster ious body parts (and inhabiting creatures), riddles, and clues about what they’re looking at, an open-the-flap format to find out just what the photos show, and a high gross-out
Y
Vol 350 • December 20/27, 1997
factor. Yikes! Your Body Up Close! is a simple concept: page after page of magnified views of body parts—hair, tongues, teeth, eyes, and so on. But children have never seen them like this. Microphotographs show wormlike hairs emerging through the skin, a leafy taste-bud as big as a cabbage, knobbly gastric glands complete with digesting food particles, a cavernous sweat-pore, and much, much more. The accompanying text is written in a light conversational style, full of wonderfully bad puns. For example, introducing the microphotograph of tooth decay we find, “Don’t expect us to fill you in . . . You should know the drill by now . . . Chew
on this one for a while before you turn the page”. After each tantalising introduction, Mike Janulewicz goes on to describe the photos with humour and fascinating detail. “Red blood cells often stack together because of their shape. They only live for four months, so maybe they need the company?”. Occasional analogies will help children understand the size difference—“Mind you, to look like this, your tooth would need to be about the size of a mailbox”. The book’s only obvious flaw is that many of the microphotographs are black and white shots that have been coloured. This device could confuse younger children, who might take the colours literally. (The text next to a very pink photograph describes, “The two pink cornflakes are dead skin from a mild case of dandruff ”. Does dead skin turn hot-pink?) In addition to being potentially confusing, the mix of tinted and true-colour photographs makes the design quality less than exceptional. But who cares? This book is just too much fun to make bones about.
Fay Robinson 2730 Nor th Greenview, Apt E, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
1865