I'M TRYING TO LOVE GERMS

An invitation to meet our microbial friends and foes.

Cleverly urging viewers to treat her pages like pinchable screens to make pretend transitions between the micro and macro worlds, Barton continues the series that began with I'm Trying To Love Spiders (2015). In a rollicking exchange between an unseen narrator and a talking germ about the differences between (benign) microbes and (less benign) pathogens, the author highlights the importance of good hygiene and, when necessary, using medicines. Googly-eyed specimens of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoans that are “can’t-be-seen-with-your-regular-eyeballs small” parade past in cartoon scenes that alternate with views of a diversely hued and dressed band of children looking generally miserable or uncomfortable. The specimens “Can’t be pronounced either!”—though for anyone willing to give it a go, Barton does provide scientific names with phonetic hints. The message that we share our bodies as well as our world with germs comes through loud and clear. Better yet, following a closing appeal to readers to use their hand-washing “superpower,” the author supplies a nicely targeted reading list for those who want to know more. She has a more generally applicable insight to share, too: “Sometimes just appreciating how different something is can make you love it!”

An effervescent introduction to the fungus (etc.) among us.