Achoo!: The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Germs

Elizabeth Levin is chair of the Psychology Department at Laurentian
University.

Everyone gets sick. Whether you are ill at home nursing a cold or
working on a school project or just wanting to learn about germs, this
book is for you. Achoo! is Romanek and Cowles’s follow-up to their
bestselling Zzz...: The Most Interesting Book You’ll Ever Read About
Sleep (2002).

There are five chapters in the book. The first, “Fighting Germs for
Life,” details the case of a young girl who sneezed hundreds of times
a day for almost three years, and the case of the first bubble boy. Born
with a weak immune system, David lived his whole life inside a specially
sealed room.

Chapter 2, “Teeny Tag-Alongs,” discusses the discovery of germs and
suggests an experiment you can try at home to grow germs. “Battling
the Bad Guys” explains how our bodies defend against germs by
producing a fever. The heat from the raised body temperature kills the
germs. “Under the Weather” looks at what happens when we have a cold
or the flu. The last chapter, “On the Mend,” not only describes the
discovery of antibiotics, but also suggests an experiment for growing
penicillium mould.

Chock full of facts and interesting trivia, this well-written and
beautifully illustrated book informs and amuses, and offers a variety of
hands-on activities to really get the reader involved. Highly
recommended.