WHAT IS CORONAVIRUS?

An easy-to-follow illustrated guide to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Persad, the author the Garbology Kids book series about waste management, provides a comprehensive discussion of the novel coronavirus, addressing how it spreads throughout a community, the development of vaccines to fight it, and how the pandemic has affected people’s mental health, among other issues. Persad’s logically organized work simplifies the subject of Covid-19 research, beginning with a basic examination of viruses in general, including their size and structure, and how they replicate within the body. Other fundamental topics include a discussion of how mutations can lead to the creation of new viral strains that can spread from humans to animals. Persad offers an examination of other prevalent global viruses, as well as historical pandemics, but, as one might expect, much of the book is dedicated to an analysis of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern, including the Delta variant, which is dominant as of this writing. The author outlines exactly what makes this virus particularly deadly for some people, and it also assists readers with distinguishing the symptoms of Covid-19 from other common ailments, which will help many readers to understand when to seek medical help. This work will be particularly useful for younger readers, due to the inclusion of Persad’s lively illustrations, colorful charts, and text boxes, but there’s valuable information here for people of all ages, presented in a simple, straightforward style. In a time of medical and economic uncertainty, discussions of the pandemic can be emotionally challenging, but Persad consistently provides interesting side stories to keep readers engaged, such as how an understanding of cowpox led to the creation of a smallpox vaccine. The early material effectively lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of pandemics in general, and offers clues to our own future.

A succinct and compelling Covid-19 analysis, packed with valuable information for readers young and old.