My Tiny Helpers

A child does not feel quite like themselves today - a runny nose, maybe a fever - and the book goes in to find out why. A germ has got inside, and the team that deals with it is already at work. The immunology is by Aimee Pugh Bernard, PhD.

$16.99Paperback, 44 pages

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Ages2 to 5
Pages44
Size8.5 × 8.5 in, paperback
IllustrationFull color
Written byLeah Bury, PhD, cell biologist and science illustrator
Immunology byAimee Pugh Bernard, PhD

Look inside.

Three spreads from the book, as printed.

Book spread: four immune cells together, a neutrophil, a T cell, a dendritic cell and a B cell with antibodies

The whole team, near the start.

Book spread: dendritic cells and T cells meeting in green tissue

The dendritic cell carrying its clue, with the T cells that will read it.

Book spread: a yellow B cell releasing Y-shaped antibodies

A B cell and the antibodies it makes.

About the book

What happens in it.

The magnifying glass finds the germ first, then the helpers: the neutrophil that rushes over and gobbles it up, the dendritic cell that picks up one piece of the germ and carries it like a clue all the way to a lymph node, the T cells that read the clue, and the B cells that make the Y-shaped tags called antibodies.

The antibodies cover the germ and mark it, the helpers clear it away, the fever cools, and the body keeps the memory. That last part is what a vaccine uses: a safe practice germ, so the team is ready before a real one arrives.