GERMS MAKE ME SICK!

Where Dorothy Hinshaw Patent's Germs (1983) focused on the organisms themselves and showed them in real electron-microscopic photos, Berger concentrates on the experience of being a little sick, going to a doctor, and so on, while Hafner's breezy drawings of sick kids and medical workers set a nice, cheery tone. But this is no sugar-coated placebo: At a younger, lighter level Berger and Hafner provide a manageable introduction to bacteria and viruses and how each of the two forms attacks cells and makes ""you"" feel sick. The text mixes information with reassurance, noting that ""your body [skin; nose hairs] keeps germs out most of the time""; that white blood cells and ""chemicals called antibodies"" fight them when ""some germs do slip in every once in a while""; that doctors can kill bacteria with drugs and prevent some virus diseases with shots; and that ""Germs do make you sick--sometimes. But you can help yourself be as fit as a fiddle all the rest of the time."" A non-threatening first exposure, administered with a pleasant bedside manner.