Author Rachel Poliquin and illustrator Clayton Hanmer, the clever creators of The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers, have devised another hilarious and fascinating biological tour for middle graders. This excursion escorts readers through the body's glands--goop, juice, and all. From the factory's entrance at the mouth to the exit at the waxy ear holes, The Gland Factory oozes facts and fun.
The factory's boss and deputy serve as tour guides through the body's glandular system where they introduce their audience to goop glands like the salivary gland (aka exocrine glands), messenger glands like the hypothalamus (aka endocrine glands), and hormones (the messages). Poliquin's amusing and informative prose is accompanied by delightful dialogue presented in comic book-style speech bubbles. The text is immensely accessible, describing everything in an easily identifiable way for middle-grade readers, like her description of the nasal glands: "The whole system is like a carwash, but with snot-sticky hairs instead of soapy brushes."
As in The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers, Hanmer's art is slightly silly, busy, and full of amazing details. The pages exude the goopiness of the subject matter with plenty of mucus-y blobs, drippy fluids, and waxy films. Hanmer builds foreshadowing around devilish germs, emphasizes the bustling activity with striking line work, and creates an overall atmosphere of fun with cartoonish characters that include cells, platelets, hormones, and other components of the glandular system.
The book's back matter includes a Gland Factory survey, a glossary of terms, and further reading suggestions for readers who aren't ready for the tour to end. The Gland Factory excellently illustrates just how impressive human goop is. --Jen Forbus, freelancer