The only reason this book is not 4 stars is due to the content being somewhat lacking for the intended audience. Seymour Simon uses vocabulary intended for high school students, as elementary students are not as likely to have the background to know what cells or proteins are, but then only teases information, leaving the curious high school student to beg the question for further explanation. This, however, should not be taken as a negative review; the book is structurally very sound. The information is presented in a sensible order and the graphics are phenomenal. The author's voice sounds very enthusiastic about human anatomy, which also goes a very long way in my book. Mr. Simon writes very well and introduces the muscular system in an easily digestible and engaging way, I just find myself wanting more. ( )

Horn Book Magazine 11/1/1998

Muscles appear as mighty mechanical equipment of the human body in this vivid and succinct introduction. Bold, computer generated photo-graphs and drawings delineate particular muscles and the overlapping sheets of muscle grouped in several regions of the body, magnifying the muscle surface. Simon's well-ordered discussion emphasizes the skeletal muscles along with the nonvoluntary muscles and the heart muscles. This book interconnects particularly well with Simon's earlier titles The Brain and The Heart, which describe the control centers for muscle operation and provide close-up views of the heart. The complementary nature of the books in this series promises an ever-expanding apprecia-tion and understanding of the complexities of the human body. m.a.b.