GERM THEORY FOR BABIES

A basic primer on germs, how they spread, their prevention, and hygiene.

As in other books in the Baby University series, balls are used to represent the disembodied heads, here of a “healthy person” and a “sick person,” with brown and white skin, respectively. More circles enclose magnified views of viruses and bacteria, which are shown in simplified cartoon form. While the authors never shy away from big words (including coronavirus, bacteriophage, and streptococcus), they never mention the words bacteria or disease, instead opting for the simplified term germ. Nor do they mention the common names of typical childhood sicknesses, but they do spend two pages outlining the obsolete miasma theory, accompanying it with a mystifying image that appears to be meant to look like a murky swamp. While the art is graphically simple, the use of calendars, clocks, and other symbols may only confuse the putative baby audience still learning to name the objects and the concepts they represent. The last few pages are the most useful and explain what youngsters can do to prevent the spread of disease, including washing hands, wearing a mask, and staying home when sick.

The “baby” moniker does a disservice to content more developmentally appropriate and useful for an older audience.