Caramel reviews Survive! Inside the Human Body: The Circulatory System by Hyun-Dong Han

Last week Caramel reviewed Survive: The Digestive System, the first book in the Survive: Inside the Human Body series illustrated by Hyun-Dong Han. This week he wanted to continue talking about this series of graphic novels, so today he will tell us about the second book: Survive! The Circulatory System, once again illustrated by Hyun-Dong Han. As is often the case, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you have enjoyed these books so much that you wanted to talk about the second one today.

Caramel: Yep.

S: So tell us from the beginning. What is this book about?

C: It is about the circulatory system.

S: So what is the circulatory system?

C: The circulatory system is the system that moves blood around the body.

S: So in this book we learn about the human body and the blood circulating through it. But then is it all about facts? Or is there a story line too?

C: Yes, there is a story line.

S: Tell me about it.

C: It’s about Geo and Doctor Brain and they go into Phoebe’s body accidentally. She eats them.

S: Wait, these are the same characters from the first book, right?

C: Yes. Phoebe and Geo are two friends. Doctor Brain is a mad scientist who invented the S.S. Hippocrates.

S: Oh do you know who Hippocrates was?

C: Yes. He lived in ancient Greece and he was a healer, and he believed that people should look at diseases in a more scientific way.

S: Yes. People see him as “the father of medicine”. So what is S.S. Hippocrates?

C: It’s a big ship but can shrink and go inside a human body. But they were not trying to get into anybody’s body.

S: Hmm, so in the first book they somehow get trapped inside Phoebe’s digestive system, she somehow eats them. How do they get into her blood stream this time?

C: They are digested.

S: So they were not able to get out the last time, and from the digestive system they are transferred into the circulatory system. Is that correct?

C: Yes.

S: Oh that sounds exciting but also kind of scary.

C: It is. They are attacked by microphages, white blood cells, and Kupfer cells.

S: Wait, what are Kupfer cells?

C: Oh apparently they are a type of microphage!

S: So they are attacked by the immune system while in the blood stream? That makes sense. After all, they are not supposed to be there!

C: Yeah. Plus Doctor Brain apparently made S.S. Hippocrates look like a bacterium.

S: That makes even more sense, of course: then the body’s defense system would try to fight it. We learned all about white blood cells and microphages in Cells At Work, right?

C: Yes, but we did not learn about the Kupfer cells there. Hey, why don’t we put in the song for Cells At Work here?

S: Good idea! Here you go, but viewers should keep in mind the show is quite violent—the little bunnies in our household often covered their eyes while we were watching the show—so this introductory sequence is also kind of violent (in second 39, you meet the White Blood Cell and with him start the violence and the gore):

S: Let us get back to the book. So do they figure out how to get out of Phoebe’s body?

C: Nope, not yet. You need to read the third book for that.

S: Oh, so this one ends with a cliffhanger!

C: Yes! But it was not bad because I actually wanted to read the third book anyway.

S: That makes sense. You like graphic novels and you like learning about facts.

C: Yes I really like facts and there are a lot of them in this book.

S: So this was a good read, then?

C: Yes, it was!

S: Tell me three words to describe it.

C: Colorful, informative, and funny.

S: Those make a good endorsement for this book! So it is time to wrap up!

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny adventures!