The Circulatory Story
Grade 2–4—Corcoran attempts to provide a simple, yet humorous explanation of the circulatory system. Her treatment is cursory and requires that readers imagine themselves as a little green imp traveling onboard a red blood cell floating along in a girl's plasma. The narrative often comes across as confusing and unclear. Sections such as "The Arching Aorta" use words in the illustrations that are not explained in the text or in the extensive glossary ("externa," "media," "intima"). The author uses asides, such as "Did you get a charge out of that?" and "Pee-yew! Your red blood cell just passed gas," that detract from understanding the many complicated words that are presented superficially in the text. On the other hand, the digitally colored line illustrations are interestingly detailed and offer a light touch. The font is large and attractively arranged on colorful backgrounds. This book would best be used as a supplement to such titles as Paul Showers'sHear Your Heart(HarperCollins, 2001).—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA(c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.