Kids love to gross each other out, so What’s Eating You? by
Nicola Davies, a book about parasites aimed at the elementary school set, should give them plenty of ammunition for disgusting lunchroom conversations. The book is nicely done – it translates many of the same complicated parasite-host relationships I’ve discussed in these posts (plus plenty of others I haven’t gotten to yet) into kid-friendly prose, and uses lots of specific examples to drive home the idea that every organism, including you, is a pretty enticing environment to a lot of parasites. Many examples are of parasites that affect humans, but Davies doesn’t completely neglect the rest of the animal kingdom – devoting a couple of pages to a discussion of everybody's favorite -- the mind-controlling parasites like Sacculina and hairworms. Another chunk of the book is also devoted to ways that hosts fight back, with their immune systems and good grooming. Kids that are still too young to tackle Parasite Rex will enjoy this one.
What’s Eating You? (Parasites – The Inside Story)
by Nicola Davies; illustrations by Neal Layton
Candlewick Press, 2007
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