Gut Garden: A Journey into the Wonderful World of Your Microbiome

Tubby, expressive microbes guide readers through this deceptively comprehensive, gleefully illustrated guide to the human microbiome. Brosnan starts with the basics (“What Are Microbes?”) and progresses through “Microbes in the World” and pathogens (“The Bad Guys”). Discussions of microbes in the body include detailed explorations of how microbes aid digestion, the flourishing “gut garden” of the large intestine, and the immune system. Bright spreads alive with Brosnan’s colorful, loose-lined illustrations hold oodles of information broken up in digestible chunks, peppered with the microbes’ speech-bubble comments, which mix captivating facts (“Inside your mouth there are over 500 species of microbes”) with the occasional fart joke. Ages 6–10. [em](Apr.) [/em]