Germy Science: The Sick Truth about Getting Sick (and Staying Healthy)

Germy Science: The Sick Truth about Getting Sick (and Staying Healthy) is the right book at the right time. While we are living with COVID, it is very important to provide readers with accurate information in an age-appropriate format. Pun intended, this book goes into gross detail to explain the good, the bad, and the ugly about germs, our immune systems, pandemics, and the vital role germs play in cleaning the environment and even in solving crimes.

Author Edward Kay uses his ‘sick’ sense of humour to present the history of how germs evolved, were discovered, and their ubiquitous presence in our world today. Even his book dedication, almost hidden at the back of the book, is sure to strike every parent and teacher as hilarious – in a slightly black humour way:


For my children, Alex and Mika, who helped me build my immune system into the powerhouse that it is today.

Illustrator Mike Shiell’s art is the perfect complement to Kay’s text.

A page titled “A Cup of Snot a Day Keeps the Doctor Away” is illustrated in the upper corner with an overflowing measuring cup full of – well, snot. The lower half of the page shows two very large nostrils sneezing out a hurricane of snot blobs onto a beach of humans and land, water, and air creatures. It is clearly a snot apocalypse.


You’ve probably noticed that when you have a cold, your nose produces even more snot than usual. That’s to trap the viruses. A thin layer of mucus in your throat does the same thing. And when you sneeze, air, germs and other little bits of stuff in your nose are fired out at about 150 km/h (93 m.p.h) – the same speed as a hurricane!

Chapter titles are a bit mundane considering the humour in the rest of the book. “Germs Are Everywhere!”, “How Germs Were Discovered”, “How Germs Make Us Sick – and How Our Bodies Protect Us”, “Germs That Changed History”, and “The Future of Germs”.

The format of the book includes a Contents, Glossary, Index, and Further Reading.

Kay begins the chapter “Germs That Changed History” with an acknowledgment that the readers of this book “probably know all about COVID-19” and ends the one-page introduction to this chapter with reassurance and a reminder.


And as you’re about to read, this was not the first time in history that germs mutated and caused a pandemic, and it won’t be the last time. But by being careful and taking proper hygiene precautions, the odds are strongly in your favor that you’ll get through it just fine. Wash your hands thoroughly, stay six feet away from other people in public areas and wear a mask in a crowd, and you’ll keep other people safe, too.


It is worth noting that Germy Science was written before a vaccine was available, but that doesn’t decrease the value of this book to inform and reassure.


Because it was so new, at the time when this book was written, scientists hadn’t yet developed medicines to treat it or vaccines to prevent. So it spread quickly to people all over the world.


Germy Science: The Sick Truth about Getting Sick (and Staying Healthy)’s fun facts and quirky presentation will both engage and inform young readers.