Tiny creatures in vast numbers, microbes are far too small to see with the naked eye and exist in quantities hard to fathom. But Nicola Davies gives young readers and listeners a starting point for understanding their small size (millions could fit on the antenna of an ant), huge numbers (a single drop of water can hold twenty million — the number of people in New York State), their omnipresence (on sea, on land, in the air; at the back of your fridge; inside your stomach and on your skin); their variety (as different in size as ants and whales; most helpful, some harmful); and their power (turning food into compost; milk into yogurt; rocks into soil). Davies’s finely crafted, informative text is paired with Emily Sutton’s marvelous illustrations that further demonstrate and illuminate these tiny creatures that transform our world. “All over the earth, all the time, tiny microbes are eating and eating, and splitting and splitting, changing one thing into another.” (Ages 6–9)

“Sutton’s large-scale illustrations help children to visualize microorganisms and processes that are too small to see. . . . A handsome and rewarding picture book.” — Booklist (starred review)

All around the world—in the sea, in the soil, in the air, and in your body—there are living things so tiny that millions could fit on an ant’s antenna. They’re busy doing all sorts of things, from giving you a cold and making yogurt to eroding mountains and helping to make the air we breathe.