Germs
Fact and Fiction, Friends and Foes
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Come meet the good, the bad, and the ugly—yes, germs!
There’s so much to discover about germs. Did you know that germs make your stomach growl as they break down your food? Or that they can travel the world on anything from fleas and ticks to trains and buses?
Told from the perspective of Sam the Salmonella, this informative picture book introduces young readers to helpful and harmful germs, exploring their discovery; the breakout of historic diseases; the invention of pasteurization, vaccination, and penicillin; and other fascinating details about the world of microscopic organisms.
A Christy Ottaviano Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Narrated by a bacterium "Let me introduce myself. I was born Salmonella (but only my mom calls me that). My friends call me Sam" this picture book by the Ransomes (Just a Lucky So and So) offers a light and lively education in the world of microorganisms. Mustachioed or overalls wearing, football watching or bespectacled, the many-hued, anthropomorphized germs that populate the book can often look downright friendly. Sam's commentary includes a brief description of microbes, passing mentions of scientists who revolutionized their study (namely Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Louis Pasteur), a short list of the diseases they can cause, and the benefits of "good germs." The conversational tone and cartoon-styled, mixed-media illustrations never let things get too weighty. "Antibacterial this and antibacterial that, and even face masks? Just surviving the day has become a full-time job!" notes Sam as gas-mask-toting germs peer warily into a well-stocked cabinet of cleaning supplies. A glossary and an afterword that touches on antibacterial resistance and the importance of hand-washing wraps up this accessible and none-too-scary primer. Ages 4 8.
