Iain Smyth: 'Alive'

The human body is a fascinating thing, and to illustrate its ingenuity, 'Alive' incorporates senses one wouldn’t usually associate with a paper-based book: hearing (via an action-triggered “beating heart” along the same principle of music-playing greeting cards) and touch. The fun starts before you even open the book, with the “Try Me” button that lights up “synapses” in the cardboard brain like fireworks at a Guy Fawkes parade. Inside, two-page spreads are devoted to different systems. Highlights include the respiratory/circulatory system, which features a pop-up bisection of ribs, lung, cilia, heart, and diaphragm. The skull pop-up would look good just open on a shelf as a sort of interesting Dia de los Muertos decoration.

Because of the interactivity, the target age of the audience makes itself clear by static flatness in the reproductive system. Three measly flip covers emphasize that the making of new life is as boring as most secondary school health textbooks imply it to be, and not as interesting as most movies and popular culture would lead one to believe. Other losers include the immune system, the senses (how hard would it have been to include a scratch n’ sniff sticker?) and the nervous system, although since the cover features a light-up brain, its reduced page interactivity doesn’t seem as sad.

'Alive' is definitey worth a browse - however, whether it triggers a sense of amazement tinged with wonder or amazement tinged with disbelief will probably depend on your age bracket.

Published 4th October 2007 by Dorling Kindersley.

Written by W. L. Clark.