Book Review - THE BRAIN:OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM by Seymour Simon

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 2006. THE BRAIN: OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM. New York, NY: Collins. ISBN 0060877197


2. PLOT SUMMARY
Simon dissects the brain in his book regarding our nervous system. Repleat with cat scans and slices, he cuts right to the point. Breaking down the different sections of our nerve center and analyzing the various roles each plays, Simon deftly divides this brain book into organized sections.

Though there is not a table of contents or index, the book is easy to follow in its layout and is chock full of information. The writing content suggests that the audience should be higher-aged elementary to middle school children. This is especially true in regard to the photos. Some may be too graphic for little stomachs.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
I've got to admit, in this non-fiction section, this is my least favorite book. Of course it could be because I'm not science oriented.

That being said, I was actually interested at the beginning. Mr. Simon's opening page really piqued my curiousity but he soon lost me. I was bogged down by details and words I had trouble pronouncing. Mid-way through, Simon moved away from the scientific explanations and described the skull and brain. This part was quite interesting and was well written, although short-lived. The next pages dove right back into the science.

The text is a bit dry for my taste, though the images were fairly interesting. I'm glad the pictures were there or I may have reshelved the book halfway through. I'm guessing that any elementary-aged female would be loath to check this book out. Perhaps it would be interesting to their male counterparts.

Please realize my opinion is just that. Seymour Simon has won awards for his books and he has written over 200 of them, so he certainly is prolific in his work. If you are interested in facts and scientific explanations of why your brain does what it does, this book fits the bill. If you are looking for a generalization and don't really care about specifics, look elsewhere.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
* Starred review in KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Full-color photographs, computer simulations, drawings, and three-dimensional models are used to grand effect to clarify, explain, and celebrate the remarkably complex system of brain and nerves; the large format, often with white type on black paper and full-page photos, is visually striking."

* Starred review in HORN BOOK: "The variety of views and the lucid presentation provide an absorbing introduction to this amazing control system that can do more jobs than the most powerful computer ever made."

5. CONNECTIONS
*If Seymour Simon's book is too "real", a good follow-up is a book written by Pamela Nettleton called THINK, THINK, THINK: LEARNING ABOUT YOUR BRAIN. The cartoonish drawings and simple wording really scales down the information, but gives enough to accurately convey detail.

Nettleton, Pamela Hill. 20047. THINK, THINK, THINK: LEARNING ABOUT YOUR BRAIN. Minneapolis, MN: Picture Window Books. ISBN 1404802525

*It would be neat to do some brain science experiments! Perhaps some jigsaw puzzles, brain teasers, face recognition games, short-term memory games, word jumbles, etc.