Unseen Jungle: The Microbes That Secretly Control Our World

Your Hidden Life

by Eleanor Spicer Rice, Rob Wilson (Illustrator)

This lively peek into the amazing world of microbes, replete with a kid-pleasing “ick” factor, is chock-full of facts, humor, and fun illustrations.

Microbes are everywhere: outside, indoors, on your body, in your body. In fact, only about half of our bodies' cells are human cells—the rest are microbes. Whether helping people digest their food or using mind-control techniques to lure mice into the path of hungry cats (no, really), microbes form an unseen jungle all around us. Through zany facts, hilarious and sometimes disgusting illustrations, and interviews with experts in their fields, aspiring young scientists (or kids who just want to be grossed out) will discover a hidden world in which your health depends on a myriad of microbes, houseflies get zombified by fungi, and termites are saving the planet one fart at a time. With such extras as sidebars, limericks, and even a lesson on how to draw E. coli, this “eww”-worthy treasure trove for kids is an engrossing romp into the microbe drama unfolding where you might least expect it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Childrens, Nature

176 pages, Hardcover

Published May 2, 2023

About the author

Eleanor Spicer Rice is an award-winning author with a Ph.D. in entomology. She studied ants and how they shape the natural world. After publishing six books on ants, she now writes books for children about the amazing life with which we spend our days.

​Eleanor is also the senior science editor at Verdant Word, a science communication company she co-founded with Robin Sutton Anders.

Reviews

[Vera Godley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book that will education while thoroughly entertaining the readers. Funny aspects of the scientific unseen microbe world are told in a language kids can understand and that will capture their interest and imagination. The portions I read were fun to read and I would have loved to have this book when my own children were growing up.

I think this is a great addition to kid's home libraries and public and school libraries everywhere.

I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.

[Ione Auston]

I have thoroughly enjoyed this fun way to learn about microbes - important and essential to our lives. If I weren't retired, I would consider making it my career to more closely examining these microscopic organisms. There is enough "yuck" factor to entertain while it educates. The illustrations skillfully provide the "picture" of the microbial world and enhance the imaginative analogies in the text. Read on budding scientists and become inspired.

[Robin Anders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 11 I love the book and think it was hilarious and my sister is 7 and she loves it so I think every one 2nd grade and up will like the book.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introducing the weird and wonderful world of microbes!

[Alissa Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information in a humorous and easy-to-understand language.

[Marie]

EpicFest 2023 author. Fascinating! Kinda gross in places, but still fascinating. I do believe older elementary/middle school kids would eat this up. The whole book is sprinkled through with drawn illustrations of the many microbes covered. Plus tons of fun facts... like people with pet dogs have a microbe present on them that might help them stay leaner. And scientists use the term "gluteous crease" for "butt crack." And you (and I) have microbes crawling on our foreheads right now. I also appreciated how the author never "talked down" to the reader. Rice gives the full scientific names for all these microbes, along with phonetic pronunciations. It was incredibly readable and also incredibly insightful. I've never known so much about the fungus among us.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
As adults, we know that there are mites that live on our faces and that having our dogs sleep in bed with us probably isn't the most sanitary choice, but we just... choose not to think about it too much. Your average fourth grader, however, thinks that farts, zombie flies, and roaches are kind of fascinating. This is the book for them.

Told in a very conversational way, this book doesn't shy away from poop jokes or deep dives into why farts smell the way they do. It talks a lot about how flies spend their time, and tells more about they life forms in our bodies, houses, pets, and yards than we perhaps want to know. There are engaging pictures to liven things up, but looking at the cover just now, they sometimes make me want to rinse my toothbrush in vinegar and microwave it. Or perhaps just keep it in the fridge between uses.

There's a lot of well researched science here, and even though the treatment is humorous, there are good explanations of many things. Key terms are explained, and the text is geared to younger readers and is easy to follow. There is a great list of resources at the back as well as some instruction on how to draw some microbes. (With faces; not serious scientific ones!)

Gift this gross and funny book to a budding scientist, perhaps along with a microscope and copies of Marrin's 2012 Little Monsters or Jarrow's 2022 The Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South. Adults who read this are just going to want to clean the entire house and then go take a shower!

[Martha Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible. Dr Eleanor Spicer Rice is a rockstar entomologist! She's giving kids access, in a hilarious way, to cutting edge science from scientific paper published as recently as 2021! She also is so funny - and shares the most disturbing, gross, and shocking information. No upper elementary school or middle school kid can resist this. I couldn't. Talking mostly about microbes that support or infect bugs, she covers microbes in our house, our yards, our food and inside of us. Blows your mind and freaks you out. The only quibble is that the book ends abruptly, but that is minor. Did you know that we wouldn't have rain forests without termites and their "power farts"? Includes cool, short interviews with some real life scientists like our author, too! Amazing.

[Sbwisni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of slang and “kid language,” but also proper terminology and encouragement to pronounce those words out loud. Capitalizes on “gross” science—poop, zombies, farts, ooozing, stabbing, etc. Engaging and might just be the thing to help get someone hooked into microbiology. Could see many students in grades 3-7 having fun with this one.

Appreciated the scientist spotlights. They connected with the chapter material and were as engaging as the rest of the text in terms of language/humor. And as always, enjoyed the suggestions at the end for further reading/exploration, which reminded me I want to read I Contain Multitudes 🦠 These were also written in a way they felt like more of the book, rather than an extra list of stuff for people who miiiiight be interested.

[Hilary Margitich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is SO. MUCH. FUN. I enjoy learning about germs and microbes because I think when told in the right way, it it such a funny and fascinating topic, and this text does not disappoint! Learn about all the bacteria, good and bad, that populate our world and our day to day life. With chapter titles like, "Fart as if the Future of the Human Race Depended on It" and "Sleep Tight, Don't Let 'Em Bite!" Even the backmatter is funny and an absolute treat to read.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! One of the coolest books I've won in the giveaways.
I definitely recommend it for kids, especially those into critters &/or science!
I thought I knew a little about microbes, but I found out that I did not! Funnily, I have now found myself sharing little microbe facts with the people around me... lol
When I was growing up, I was fortunate to have like 2 teachers that had their own personal libraries in their classroom that I could borrow books from, and can't help thinking how cool this would be for a middle school science teacher's collection.
#goodreadsgiveaway #goodreadsgiveaways

[Anne Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative book written with a good sense of humor. I think that science-y kids will enjoy this book though it is a serious book about microorganisms it does it with a lighthearted touch.

The audience: middle grade students, 5-8th grade.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really simple but engaging flow of ideas and concepts. There could have been slightly more delineation between the sheer number of terms and definitions introduced and possibly some graphics but overall really well written.

[Aimee Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great title for sixth graders or older, this follows all the little critters and germs we adults are afraid of. What I liked about this was how the illustrations and descriptions help younger minds actualize the microscopic world of living creatures around us.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so gross that I almost couldn't get through it. Kids will love it.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing non-fiction book.

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book for kids !!! Educational but interesting and funny. I wish my son could have read this when he was younger - he would have loved it. I highly recommend it.

[AnneLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cool! Love all things science, biology, and gross! Kids are going to love this.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! That was gross. I mean fascinating. Nope I mean gross 🤣🤣

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book full of interesting stories about microbes! I especially enjoyed the stories about the coffee borer beetles and the cicadas the most!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun audio book to do in the car with my 6 & 10yr olds

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please answer me this: Are you ever curious, about anything? I hope so because I have another question. Are you ever curious about science? Again, I am hoping so because I have the most wonderful, irreverent, fact-filled and ick inducing book to share with you. From Eleanor Spicer Rice, etymologist and author of no less than seven books, and illustrator Rob Wilson, I bring you Unseen Jungle. The Microbes That Secretly Control Our World. And yes, that world does include our bodies… I honestly don’t think microbes have ever been such fun, or in fact that science and scientific facts have ever been such fun as they are in this book. Bursting at the seams with facts that will fascinate, give you cause to laugh-out-loud and stop to explore the illustrations so you can absorb as much information and detail as possible. After all, how else can you learn and then wow others?

Now, are you wondering what microbes are and why they are so important that I am encouraging you to find a copy of this book? They are any living creature that is too small to see, for a human that means that they are smaller than half the width of one of your hairs, they are less than 0.5 millimetres in size and yet they are incredibly powerful. They are more numerous than the cells that make up our human bodies (by 3 to 1), they can do everything from help us digest our food, to making us poorly to luring mice into the path of cats… They are so very numerous that they generated the idea for the title of this book, they are the Unseen Jungle that surrounds us. Facts about them range from the zany to the serious. There is a microbe that can murder caterpillars, and we are even given pronunciation help for its name. Then there are the microbes in coffee borers and of course the most brilliant illustrations! Add to the mix contributions from real life scientists and this book has just about everything the curious and enquiring young mind could wish for.