THE BLOOD-HUNGRY SPLEEN

An overlong collection of poetry seeks to explicate seemingly every single body part and function—and then some: “Your sturdy ankle, strong and straight / its whole life it does dedicate / to holding up your body’s weight.” This exhausting catalogue features the occasional witty metaphor (an “Ow!” makes its way from the toe through the nervous system to the brain, “So the brain sent the ‘Ow!’ to the vocal cords, / which said, / ‘Excuse me please, but you’re standing on my foot!’ ”) and frequently mildly interesting information (“There’s fifty-two bones in your two feet alone!”). Sometimes, however, a poem is baffling (“Your hormones are exciting! / They stir your body up”) or just plain misleading (“[Your brain] looks just like a Jell-O mold”). Written, according to the flap copy, while teaching sixth-grade life science, there are obvious curriculum tie-ins, but the quality of the verse, which frequently forces rhyme and garbles syntax, will keep it out of literature classes. Acrylic illustrations extend the humorous tone of the poems, and excretory system pieces in particular carry their own yuck value. (Poetry. 8-12)