Book Reflection (Week of: June 25-28)

Siy, A. (2007). Sneeze! Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.



Age Level:  10-12

Genre:  This is an informational book because it gives facts and information about aspects in biological science.

Summary:  Sneeze! is a book about sneezes, specifically how and why they are formed in the human body with examples of nine children and nine reasons for sneezes.

Reflection: 
       This informational book is a photo essay containing vivid color micrograph images to accompany the facts and information about sneezes.  It is the type of information that would not be found in your typical classroom science textbook, nor would the photographs, or micrographs, be seen through any ordinary classroom microscope.  The micrograph images (some zoomed hundreds to thousands times actual size) allow the reader to see the allergens and microbes that cause sneezing in human beings.  The up-close view of the microscopic particles look almost like abstract art rather than ragweed, alder, or sagebrush (pg. 9). 

       My five year old son saw the book cover and immediately wanted me to read it to him.  I was a bit hesitant at first because I thought the content was too advanced for him (some of it was a bit over my head!), but I read it anyway.  He throughly enjoyed it and said, "Those can't be germs, they look too pretty" (pg. 34-35).

       I

     
       I had many "Mark the Bold" words while reading this book.  Many of the bolded words are labels with captions next to the photograph.  All the bold words are in the back of the book in the glossary.  Because of many of the advanced vocabulary words such as myelin sheath (pg. 31), synapse (pg. 29), axon (pg.26) to name a few, the Mark the Bold strategy would work well.  This book would be a wonderful addition to a biology lesson because all students can relate to it- we all sneeze!  The back of the book contains extra information called "More About Sneezing" (pg. 40-41) that is worth mentioning.  Did you know a person does not sneeze while sleeping?  (Never thought about it, but learned something new!)  How about: Did you know that the first copyrighted motion picture was of a sneeze?  These are  interseting tidbits of information that one would not find in textbooks, but facts that students remember and make them want to read more about the topic.  This trade book would make a good  supplement to science lesson or for the value of learning new information.