Deadly Diseases; Microscopic Monsters

And still they come ... yet more horrible titles to sicken you with gruesome gut-churning contents. Billed as 'science with the squishy bits left in', you need a strong stomach to tackle either of these two titles and certainly before eating. (The perfect solution for dieters perhaps - read one chapter to quell your appetite for the rest of the day.) An over-18s age warning advises that you may be too ancient to really appreciate the corny jokes and flaky cartoons. But if you are addicted to the 'Horrible History/Geography/Science' approach, then these two new titles from Scholastic's ever-popular series, in which Nick Arnold won the Rhone Poulenc Science Prize with Blood, Bones and Body Bits, will surely fit the bill. Diseases, germs and other ghastly things you might catch are amply covered in Deadly Diseases, with all manner of quizzes, fact boxes and activities, while Microscopic Monsters addresses smaller varieties of nasty unmentionables (protozoa, microbes, amoeba) to be found between the toes, under the loo seat etc. Please pass me a joke-free information book while I lie down in a darkened room to recover.