Human Body Detectives - Review & Giveaway!

Human Body Detectives (or HBD, for short) is a new series of children's books, created to inspire children to strive for knowledge and the confidence to be proactive when it comes to their own health.  The series is written by Dr. Heather Manley, who a naturopathic doctor, and a mother of two girls.  She found the selection of books and resources to provide healthy eating tips for kids and parents to be lacking, and felt that the best way to educate families about healthy eating and properly caring for their bodies was to include fun and entertainment as well as engaging and educational methods.  This passion for empowering children and families led Dr. Heather to create the Human Body Detectives series. Dr. Heather’s children love being a part of Human Body Detectives and are passionate about sharing their love of healthy eating with other families, just like their mom.  What a great role model, she is!

When Dr. Heather contacted me about working on a review and giveaway for Human Body Detectives, I was excited and happy to agree to work with her.  You can tell that she really has a passion for what she does and for these books.  I was instantly drawn to the fun artwork I saw on the Human Body Detectives web page, and couldn't wait to read the stories with my own children.

These books have won Mom's Choice Awards and been Parent Tested, Parent Awarded ( PTPA)!

The series currently consists of three books.  Case File #1: The Lucky Escape, Case File #2: Battle with the Bugs, and Case File #3: A Heart Pumping Adventure.  They are recommended for ages 6 to 10, though I have never let age recommendations stop me from reading something to my girls (who are 3 and 5).  As you can see from the girls' bookshelf, reading is something that we love a LOT.

And this doesn't even include two big overflowing baskets of books on the other side of the girls' room!  We *love* books!

Dr. Heather kindly sent us all three picture story books to read and enjoy (and learn from!).  Currently you can purchase these paperbacks on Amazon or the Human Body Detective website for $12.95 each.  Workbooks and Audio CDs are also available.

Case File #1: The Lucky Escape, follows sisters Merrin and Pearl through an imaginative adventure that takes them on a journey through their baby brother Robbie's digestive tract.  There they learn all about the digestive system through magic, imagination, and first-hand experience.  Robbie's stomach is upset because he swallowed a penny, and Merrin and Pearl must find it to help him and get out in time before they end up following his digestive tract all the way out...to his diaper! 

Case File #2:  Battle with the Bugs find Merrin and Pearl on a family vacation.  Suddenly their little cousin, Max, is sick and the girls want to help!  With the help of their cousin Sam, the HBD's get to work.  With the help of their imaginations, the girls and Sam transport themselves into Max's body, where they get to witness the immune system fighting to make Max feel better.  They get to meet a friendly white blood cell and ultimately defeat the bacteria and save the day!

Case File #3: A Heart Pumping Adventure starts out with Merrin eating breakfast with her dad.  While she starts her day off right with oatmeal and fruit, her dad enjoys his daily breakfast of bacon and fried eggs.  Pearl wants Merrin to go have some fun in the snow with her, but Merrin is too worried about her dad's eating habits and his heart since she just read a book about the circulatory system.  Merrin explains everything to Pearl, and suddenly the girls embark upon a trip through dad's body on a red, donut-shaped boat!  Will the girls be able to help their dad before things get too sticky?  They're sure going to try!

These books are awesome!  The illustrations are lovely, and the story pulls you in.  As a parent, I love how educational they are.  They explain everything about our bodies in a way that children can understand (and hey, I am not ashamed to admit I re-learned a few things myself!).  The girls loved the adventures and that Merrin and Pearl worked together.  I think it helped endear my children to these stories, that the girls could see themselves in Merrin and Pearl.  The series actually reminds me a lot of the Magic School Bus series, but with more detail.  I love books that make learning fun!

At the end of each case, there is a "Case Solved" stamp, and the fun isn't over yet!  Children are then asked questions, like "How many times can you find "the sneaky blueberry guy"? in the book, and readers can email the answers to Merrin and Pearl at the provided email address.  I think that is just awesome.  I have no idea if the kids would receive a response, but how fun if they would?  If my girls were old enough for email, we would try it! 

After each Case is solved, you can read more about the body and system featured in each book, and see pictures to go along with the explanations to really help kids understand and learn about the human body. 

Then there is an awesome Did You Know section with lots of really neat facts, like, did you know your heart beats approximately 30 million times a year?  Or did you know that Americans eat over 2 billion pounds of chocolate each year?  Or that it's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open (you're so going to try that, aren't you?)?

There are also tips and suggestions for kids to follow to help keep their bodies healthy.  Like, boosting your diet with Fiber Packed foods because fiber grabs on to unhealthy things and helps to move it out of the body, or why it's important to eat c o l o r f u l foods to help boost your immune system.

And that's not all, there are two pages full of funny jokes.  My girls LOVE these, and, yeah, I do too! 

Why did the banana go out with the prune?

Because he couldn't get a date!

What happened to the hamburger who missed too much school?
He had to stay after school to KETCHUP!

My girls especially love the knock knock jokes.  A lot of these would be fun to write on notes to tuck into a child's lunchbox for a mid-day smile. 

There is even a glossary at the end in case your little reader has a question about what something means.  This is a great detail.

As you can tell, I really think this is a great series, and I can't wait to see what adventures Merrin and Pearl go on next!

Enter now for your chance to win your choice of one of these three books! 

Mandatory Entry:

Check out the HBD website, then come back here and leave a comment with something you enjoyed.  It could be a book trailer, or a recipe, anything!

Extra Entries:

-Like Human Body Detectives on Facebook.   (+1 extra if you leave a comment, it can be anything you like--I just want to note that this is not required!  If you do give yourself one extra entry by leaving a comment here).

-Leave a comment on the HBD Facebook wall, telling Dr. Heather if you would like to have HBD Elementary Curricula in your child's school, or available in your local library, and why!

-Follow Dr. Heather on Twitter @drheathernd

-Tweet the following and leave me the link to your tweet.

I just entered to win a #HumanBodyDetectives book @FlipFlopReviews! You should too! Thanks @drheathernd!

-Follow Flip Flop Reviews (publicly) on Google Friend Connect. If you already follow us, great, let us know.

-Like Flip Flop Reviews on Facebook.

-Follow Flip Flop Reviews with Networked Blogs. (check the sidebar)

-Follow Flip Flop Reviews on Twitter @FlipFlopReviews.

-Blog about this giveaway and leave the link in a comment.

-Enter one of our other current giveaways and let me know which one you entered. (Feel free to leave one comment for each giveaway entered)

This giveaway will end on 8/22/2011 at 8pm EST. Any entries after that will not count. Please make sure that you leave an email address or some way to contact you in your comments. If we can't figure out how to get in touch with you, you can't win! :o) Good luck! 

*I received one or more of the products mentioned above for the purposes of this review through the above mentioned company or representing PR agency. In the event of a giveaway, the prize is shipped by the sponsor and I hold no responsibility. Thank you for reading!