Your One and Only Heart

June 15, 2023
A doctor explains the heart's parts and functions in poetic language. Our hearts, LaRocca writes, are "singular"--beating about 54 million times before we take our first breath and continuing to beat "every second / of every minute / of every hour / of every day" until our last one--and also "cooperative" as the "captain of / Team Cardiovascular." In the same vein, she goes on to show how it is at once "simple and complex," "constant and changeable." Readers learn that though the heart is "hidden," protected by the ribs, it's also "noticeable"--we can easily feel and hear it. LaRocca makes clear that this organ shares a number of seemingly contradictory characteristics and thus "does / Everything / it's supposed to do. / Just like you." In screen print-style illustrations, Conrad reinforces the theme with a racially diverse cast of actively posed children (including one who uses a wheelchair) putting their hearts through their paces by playing, resting, dancing, and studying stylized diagrams of cardiac chambers and flows. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Will leave readers marveling at the versatility of one of the body's most essential organs. (Informational picture book. 6-8)

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August 1, 2023
Grades 1-3 Even young children understand that the heart is important to the human body, but what exactly does this vital organ do? Physician and Newbery Honor Book author LaRocca explains some of its characteristics through a series of free verse poems. Beginning with "Your heart is SINGULAR," each poem uses a descriptive adjective to introduce specific heart facts. Following with "Your heart is COOPERATIVE," which further explains how this singular organ works as a team with the cardiovascular system, LaRocca sets up more seemingly contradictory pairs of adjectives, such as the heart's SIMPLE squeezes-fills-repeats pattern to its COMPLEX pump made of four heart chambers. She tempers a plethora of information with light, accessible text that doesn't bog down readers with too many details. Similarly, colorful, geometric illustrations featuring children with a range of skin colors, hairstyles, and physical abilities provide just enough visual cues to understand such concepts as how the heart works like a dropper and its electrical signals. Back matter with more heart facts related to each adjective adds to this charming STEAM collection.

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