A Vaccine Is Like a Memory

Kicking off with a straightforward explanation of vaccines, visualized via a pale-skinned child with black hair, this picture book takes readers through the history and science behind the topic. Textbook-style prose details vaccines’ origins as smallpox inoculation in China and India, discusses how an enslaved man from west Africa introduced the principle to a Boston physician in the 1700s, and reveals how vaccines leverage immune system mechanics. As LaRocca (Summer Is for Cousins) explains, a vaccine “kickstarts your immune system to make antibodies that can fight an infection without actually having to be sick from it. Then, if you’re later exposed to that germ, your body ‘remembers’ how to fight it off.” Colorful, mural-like art by Marcotte (Can You Believe It?) portrays inoculated and vaccinated figures of various abilities and skin tones as having dotted-line force fields, emphasizing how “an incredible scientific feat” facilitates daily communal life. A final section focuses on the Covid-19 pandemic, saluting scientists who raced to develop the vaccine and offer “a glimmer of hope” amid pervasive fear and isolation. Authoritative and approachable, these pages work hard to supply a measure of calm and common sense to readers. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Brent Taylor, Triada US. Illustrator’s agent: Lindsay Auld, Writers House. (June)