The Human Body Coloring Book by DK Publishing

The Human Body Coloring Book is a learning tool and study aid for those studying anatomy. It contains more than 200 detailed line drawings for the student to color and label.

This is such an awesome book. If you are thinking kids coloring book, think again. The quality is outstanding and it's basically like any other anatomy textbook, except that the diagrams are not labeled or colored in. That's for the student to do. The organization is like many other DK anatomy books. That is, it's organized by body system (skeletal, muscular, nervous, etc.). Each of the sections starts with an overview of that system. It then launches into the various explanations and artworks for parts of the system.

There are two ways the reader can use this book. The first way is to color in and label the various parts using the keys/legends. The second way is to cover up the keys/legends and do it from memory. I think the second way would be particularly helpful when studying for exams.

Like many DK books the artwork is wonderful. Most of it in this book is in its line drawing, pre-coloured stage, but it's spectacular nevertheless.

The whole book is wonderful, but I particularly loved two parts. First, the cross-references at the bottom of many of the pages. This allows the reader to go to other parts of the book with similar material without having to reference the table of contents or index. Very handy, I think. Second, the 360-degree view of the system in the body. The illustrations are small, but extremely interesting. It lets the reader see at a glance the whole system in context.

Books like this make me wish that books didn't have spines. It's a shame that parts of some of the diagrams disappear into that area where the pages attach to the spine. I'm sure it has a technical name, but I don't know what it is. The publishers have done a good job keeping it to a minimum, but it's too bad it had to happen at all.

Books without spines...Hmmm... That got me thinking. This book would make an awesome iPad or tablet app. The reader could color in and label the items for learning purposes, then later erase it all and do it from memory to study for exams. How cool would that be!!!!

Anyway, back to this book. The table of content is excellent. It lists the major sections as well as the items within each section. The index is extensive and spans many pages. This should be helpful in finding items in the book.

Highly recommended for students of anatomy. I should clarify that I am not a student, nor have I ever studied anatomy. I do, however, think this subject is fascinating. I have read quite a few anatomy books to better my understanding of it.

For more information about this book or to browse inside, please visit DK's website.

I'd like to thank those nice people at DK Canada for this review copy.

The Human Body Coloring Book by DK Publishing, Dorling Kindersley (DK), ©2011. ISBN 9780756682347(Large Paperback), 256p.