Kids Reading Round-up: Germs, Germs, Germs

Kids Reading Round-up: Germs, Germs, Germs

Looking for books on microbes? Most folks start with “germ” – a term making you squirm. (I can’t resist the rhyme this time.) Generally, you’ll open germ books up and learn about the importance of washing your hands. This “Reading Round-up” features several newer “germ” kids’ books, including ones that balance the stories of sickness and “germs” with non-pathogenic microbes and scientific advances! Here’s one microbiologist’s reviews. Germs Up Close Sara Levine. Millbrook Press. (2021), Ages 4-8. “A classical reference book on common pathogenic viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi”. Summary: Germs Up Close is a great reference book for kids looking for lists of microbes that cause disease. Made up of sections based on the broad classifications of microbes, there is an initial introduction to the microbial group followed by profiles of individual microbes of that group. Each microbe has their own “rap sheet”: Name, pronunciation, appearance, habitat, diseases it causes, more to know. What I like: Germy Science: The Sick Truth about Getting Sick (and Staying Healthy) Edward Kay, author and Mike Shiell, illustrator. Kids Can Press. (2021), Ages 7-11. Summary:  “A kids encyclopedia of “germs” from ancient to modern times.” Germy Science: The Sick Truth about Getting Sick

Let it Glow – Let it Glow – It Can’t Hold it Back Anymore!

Let it Glow – Let it Glow – It Can’t Hold it Back Anymore!

At first, the room is pitch black. My eyes adjust to the darkness and I see two eerie blue-green glowing columns of plastic petri dishes stacked on a table. “Ready? Hold still for 15 seconds”. Click…..click. “Lights”. So began the first #LuxArt portraiture session at the American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE) with Dr. Mark O. Martin, University of Puget Sound. Glowing bacteria? Photography by bacterial light? The eerie glow is from a highly bioluminescent, non-pathogenic strain of bacteria Photobacterium leiognathi KNH6 . First collected from K āne ʻohe Bay, O’ahu Hawaii by Dr. Ned Ruby, University of Hawaii and Dr. Eric Stabb, University of Georgia, this nonpathogenic bacterium is unusually bright, produce enough light that you can read by it. Bacterial candlelight, as it were. Outshining its cousins Vibrio sp., Photorhabdus luminescens, and Pseudomonas, scientists are unraveling P. leiognathi’s glowing super power.   Painting with glowing bacteria.  What better way to get students anyone excited about microorganisms? Dr. Mark O. Martin, a self-proclaimed “Microbial Supremacist” uses glowing bacteria to entice students to explore the mysteries of microbiology. Now fellow microbiology educators at ASMCUE created #LuxArt and had #LuxSelfies made. “Doc” Martin was first captivated by bioluminescence as a young

Book Review: The Invisible War

Book Review: The Invisible War

The graphic novel “The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales” tells stories of the macroscopic (nurses) and microscopic (bacteriophage) heroes fighting dysentery at the Western Front of World War I. Interweaving Views of Tales, Scales, and Heroes “The Invisible War: A Tale of Two Scales” works its magic, interweaving the stories of two rarely discussed topics – dysentery and bacteriophage – and two rarely intertwined fields of study – science and history. The resulting story is a rich tapestry full of action and information at both the macroscopic and microscopic levels. “The Invisible War” tells about Annie, a nurse at a field hospital at the Western Front of World War I. In her nursing experience, Annie has learned the symptoms and consequences of dysentery, at a time when the cause wasn’t well understood and no reliable cure was known.