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Your kids would probably want to take a pair of scissors
and some glue to this book.
It asks them to do so. They can cut into pages and paste
in pictures of themselves and their family.
That’s part of the fun involved in how You’re
Full of Genes teaches them about the human genetic code.
Aimed at Grade 2 and up, the book is written in simple
language and in a humorous way, but contains lots of
information that even many adults don’t know. In
fact, many adults have said they not only learned something,
they enjoyed reading the book.
That doesn’t mean the kids will have trouble with
it. For example, here’s how the book begins:
Holey moley!
Did you know your body is made up of millions
and millions and billions and billions and trillions
and trillions of genes?
Even your finger. Look at it. You can’t see
them because they’re so small, but those genes
are there.
So what’s a gene?
Genes are what decide that you have a finger on
your hand, not a toe. (Wouldn’t that be funny,
to have a hand made of toes?) They decide if you have
brown eyes or blue eyes or green eyes, of if you have
brown hair or blonde hair or black hair. And they
tell if you are going to be short or tall. Genes decide
everything about you and your body, and how the parts
should work or not work.
After a discussion about how color of eyes and other
features are passed down in families, the book introduces
a gene, TTAGCAGTATAT, called T-TAG for short, who is
responsible for curly hair.
T-TAG talks to an enzyme, a nice lady who keeps track
of all the 35,000 genes that go into a body cell, then
cooks them all together so the cell can split, then
split again and again and again until all those trillions
of genes become You.
The art work is simple and perfectly adapted to the
subject. And the timing is excellent – the human
genome is hot news. This book fits right into increasing
interest in science subjects in schools.
Price $12.95
softcover
ISBN 1-894601-00-9 |
