From the grotesque to the intriguing to the downright bizarre, everything a child needs to know about the secret world of parasites can be found within UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences associate professor Chelsea Wood’s book “Power to the Parasites!,” which was released Nov. 12.
According to Wood, she had never intended to write a children’s book about parasites, believing the topic wouldn’t be suitable for young audiences. After an interview Wood gave on NPR about parasites, however, a publisher from Godwin Books reached out to her to ask if she would consider writing a children’s book on the subject.
After a couple of discussions, Wood was eventually convinced that parasites could not only be presented in an age-appropriate way to younger audiences, but are also a topic that a lot of children find appealing.
“[Kids are] naturally interested in gross stuff that I think adults close themselves off to,” Wood said. “Especially because the book is targeted at second [to] fifth graders — it’s an age before you start shunning gross things, an age where you’re still excited about slime and weirdness.”
When writing the book, a challenge Wood encountered was how to get back into the mindset of a child and read from their perspective. To refine her writing, Wood enlisted the help of kids within her family as well as kids of friends and colleagues to read through the entire book and give feedback.
Wood said she found the process incredibly helpful and noted that all of the children who were involved are thanked in the acknowledgements of the book.
She explained that one of her goals for “Power to the Parasites!” is to give elementary-level students a preliminary education in parasites. Wood, who teaches a college-level course in parasite ecology, has noticed that most students know very little about parasites before taking her class, something she aims to correct with her book.
“Parasites are, by really conservative estimates, 40% of all animal species, so it’s kind of shocking that we let students arrive as biology majors in college without having had any parasite content before,” Wood said. “If we’re going to get students excited about parasites and conversant in parasites, starting them early, I think, is really important.”
According to Wood, early feedback for the book has been positive, with starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. It was also chosen to be a part of the Junior Library Guild’s Gold Standard Selections, which helps librarians choose quality children’s books to add to their library collections.
Looking toward the future, Wood said that she already has ideas for a follow-up book aimed at slightly younger children but will have to wait and see how her first book does before committing to it.
Wood ultimately highlighted her hope that “Power to the Parasites!” will capture the same surprise and wonder she experienced when first learning about parasites.
“I tried to remember what were the aspects of each of these stories that made me awestruck back when I first learned about them, and that’s what I tried to tap into as I told those stories,” Wood said. “So hopefully it works for translating that awe from me to the reader.”
Reach reporter Cassie Diamond at [email protected]. X: @cassiediamondds
Like what you’re reading? Support high-quality student journalism by donating here.
This post was originally published on here
