Mental Development: From Birth to Old Age

Gr 7–9—These titles discuss the milestones, challenges, and concerns people experience as their bodies change throughout their lives. Each volume opens with a broad overview, followed by five-to-seven chapters that begin with infancy and end with old age. The presentations are mostly balanced. For example, Nutrition touches upon health, eating disorders, and different kinds of diets, among many other topics. Color photographs, diagrams, and graphs illustrate the pages. "Amazing But True!" text boxes, sidebars, and captions add details and background information. Chapters conclude with a short recall quiz with answers. Either a supplementary spread of facts or a time line is appended along with suggestions of places to visit, extension ideas, and lists of print and web resources. Unfortunately, inconsistencies, labeling problems, and other issues mar the series.