This book has engaging and kid-friendly pictures and uses a variety of microbial anecdotes to engage the reader and convey the diversity of roles microbes play on Earth and in human day-to-day life. There are a few instances where the book discusses issues of scale and evolution. Both are high-cognitive-load concepts, so an introduction to these topics is a great entry point for small children.

Reading this book with a small child will elicit lots of wonderful questions and conversations, and adult readers should be prepared that a background knowledge in biology will be extremely helpful in answering these questions and continuing discussions. Readers of ABT will likely be well-prepared for these conversations, but some of the illustrations might create misconceptions in children in a more general audience. Overall, though, this is a fun and engaging exploration of our relationships with microbes for inquisitive minds. Appropriate for kids ages 5...

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