Sneeze!

Starred review from September 1, 2007
Gr 4-6-The first part of this book gives nine reasons for sneezes. A spread is devoted to each one, complete with a black-and-white photograph of an irritated nose or two, paired with a color enlargement of the microscopic component that causes the particular sneeze. Lily's got pollen in her nose; she's shown mid-sneeze. Pollen grains are shown magnified 1,525 times. Other pests include ground pepper, dust mites, mildew, dust, and the flu virus. The large, white text on a black background, while giving a picture-book look, is actually packed with a lot of information. Readers will learn that even bright sunshine can make one's nose get all itchy and twitchy. The text is chatty and inviting. Children are pictured sniffling through their particular sneeze-inducing dilemmas. One section delves into what goes into the making of a sneeze: "A sneeze is a reflex]." A "More About Sneezing" section is quite interesting. For example, people don't sneeze while they're sleeping, and some people sneeze while they pluck their eyebrows. This is a unique selection, good for reports and for browsers."Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2007
Black-and-white photos show children caught in sudden spraying action, but the science in this handsome book about sneezing is for older readers, including high-school students. Kunkels big, clear, beautiful color electron micrographson every double-page spreadshow everything from dust mites, mildew, and pollen to the influenza A virus. A long note explains how the pictures are taken, colored, and then magnified from four-hundred to one-quarter million times. The chatty text is mainly focused on allergies, with one spread about flu (no mention, though, of the common cold); anddramatic anatomical detail shows what happens between the noses prickly, twitchy itch, the neurons messages, and the final violent explosion. End matter includes annotated Web sites, a detailed glossary, and more fascinating facts about the science and folklore of sneezing, including the origin of saying God bless you! after a person sneezes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2007
Siy and Kunkel illustrate the many reasons for sneezing with a combination of black-and-white photographs of children and amazing false-color photomicrographs. The book is split roughly in half in coverage, the first half concerned with the things that make us sneeze -- illness, irritants, even bright light -- and the second half with the microscopic human body parts responsible for the automatic sneeze reflex. This combination elevates the scientific discussion, providing detailed explanations of the complex mechanisms involved in sneezing. The micrographs are the star here, reproduced in vibrant colors on black backgrounds (as opposed to the photographs of children on the facing pages, which tend to be grainy and are much smaller than the micrographs). Close-ups of such wondrous items as dander on a cat hair, the nerves responsible for sensing irritants, and different grains of pollen are sharply rendered in high-contrast colors to reveal the minutest details. A list of resources and a glossary are appended.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2008
[Other by=Photomicrographs by]Siy and Kunkel illustrate the many reasons for sneezing. The book's first half presents things that make us sneeze; the second half describes the microscopic human body parts responsible for the automatic sneeze reflex. The book is illustrated with black-and-white photographs of children and with photomicrographs. The latter are the stars here, reproduced in vibrant colors on black backgrounds. Websites. Glos.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)