Germ Zappers (Enjoy Your Cells, 2)
by Frances R. Balkwill, Mic Rolph
List Price:
Our Price: $7.69
You Save: $2.26 (23%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.95 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Frances R. Balkwill, Mic RolphEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-10-15
ISBN: 0879695986
Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Book Reviews of Germ Zappers (Enjoy Your Cells, 2)
Book Review: Fun approach to a complex topic
Summary: 4 Stars
Our immune systems have so many ways to protect us from intruders that the average adult (that'd be me) would have trouble digesting all the information. Only with the right approach can authors successfully write a book intended for children on this challenging topic.
This book is on the right track. Even the title, Germ Zappers, lends excitement to the topic. The eye-pleasing colors and comic details of the illustrations make the subject approachable. The text humorously reminds children of their own experiences of feeling sick or suffering an allergic reaction. These familiar experiences ease the transition into the unfamiliar territory of neutrophils, eosinophils, macrophages, lymphocytes and dendritic cells (helpful pronounciation guides follow each cell name). Viruses and bacteria are explained as well as vaccines, antibiotics and antibodies. This book manages to convey the details of immune system while continually relating the science to human experiences, particularly those familiar to children.
According to my five year old, one of the highlights of the book is when spider-like viruses shoot across a school bus and proceed to 'chomp through the protecting mucus' of the lungs. His eyes bulge when we read about the immune deficient children living inside plastic bubbles with sterilized toys and sanitized food. He also enjoys hearing about why we get those pain-in-the-rear preventative shots and how vaccines helped eradicate smallpox from the world (he's impressed with the scar I have from the smallpox vaccine).
When the subject is this complex kids rely heavily on the visual cues offered in the illustrations. Unfortunately, all the different 'germ zapper' cells look like sunny side up eggs with bright blue yolks and pale blue 'whites.' The 'whites' of the dendritic cells are more star shaped which helps differentiate them but otherwise the germ zappers lack distinguishing marks. The illustration of macrophages are nearly indistinguishable from from a Natural Killer cell (curved 'yolk'), a lymphocyte or a neutrophil (globs of 'yolk'). Red lightning bolts help distinguish a striking lymphocyte from the crowd but I still find these depictions wanting (I suggest modifying the illustrations yourself, adding dark blue dots to the 'yolk' of macrophages and thin red zig zags to the 'yolk' of inactive lymphocytes, even though modification sacrifices accuracy). The title page of the book affirms suspicions that cell depiction was approached with altogether too much trepidition. It states that "...cells are gray and grainy. We have added some false color..."
If you're looking for books to help young children understand the importance of hygiene and how germs cause illness then I suggest Tissue, Please by Lisa Kopelke and Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie: A Book About Germs by Joanna Cole.
Biology Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Biology Books
Brown Paper School book: Blood and Gutsby Linda Allison
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Published: 1976-10-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops:
Down the Hatch!: Explore Your Dinner (Spaceship Earth)by Mike Lambourne
Continuum (formerly Cassell Academic); Published: 1991-07-11; Hardcover; Book
Biology: A Systems Approachby Edward Kormondy
Addison-Wesley Pub (Sd); Published: 1988-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.28
Price in other shops:
Action Science: Genetics and Evolutionby Joan O'Sullivan, William Merrick
Oxford University Press; Published: 1993-05; Paperback; Book
Science Explorer Human Biology and HealthPearson Prentice Hall; Published: 2000-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.85
Price in other shops:
Holt Science & Technology: Cells, Heredity, and Classification (Holt Science and Technology)by Rheinhart And Winston Holt
Holt McDougal; Published: 2007-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.95
Price in other shops:
Collins Advanced Modular Sciences: Biology A2 Teacher Support Packby Martin Davies
Harper Collins Education; Published: 2004-01; CD-ROM; Book
Discovering Life on Earth.by David. Attenborough
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1981; Hardcover; Book
What Do I Smell?by Harriet Zeifert
Carnival; Published: 1988-08; Hardcover; Book
Complete Biology for Igcseby Ron Pickering
Oxford Schools; Published: 2007-01-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $23.57
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Periodic Table: Elements with Style!by Simon Basher, Adrian Dingle
Kingfisher; Kingfisher; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops:
Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peasby Cheryl Bardoe
Spring Arbor/Ingram; Harry N. Abrams; Published: 2006-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops:
DNA is Here to Stay (Cells and Things)by Fran Balkwill, Frances R. Balkwill
Carolrhoda Books; Published: 1994-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.67
Price in other shops:
Basher Science: Chemistry: Getting a Big Reactionby Dan Green, Simon Basher
Kingfisher; Kingfisher; Published: 2010-07-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.87
Price in other shops:
Basher Science: Algebra and Geometryby Dan Green, Simon Basher
Kingfisher; Published: 2011-06-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.23
Price in other shops:
Enjoy Your Cells (Enjoy Your Cells, 1)by Balkwill / Rolph
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; Published: 2001-10-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.67
Price in other shops:
Cell Wars (Cells and Things)by Fran Balkwill, Balkwill
Carolrhoda Books; Published: 1990-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops:
Gene Machines (Enjoy Your Cells, 4)by Frances R. Balkwill, Mic Rolph
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; Published: 2002-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.02
Price in other shops:
Enjoy Your Cells (Enjoy Your Cells, 1)by Frances R. Balkwill, Mic Rolph
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; Published: 2001-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops:
Have a Nice DNA (Enjoy Your Cells, 3)by Frances R. Balkwill, Mic Rolph
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; Published: 2002-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: