book cover

Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes

by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton

Interest age: 4+
Reading age: 6+

Published by Walker Books, 2014

  • Non-fiction

About this book

This gorgeously-presented non-fiction picture book describes itself as 'the first microbiology book for five-year-olds'. Making a complex topic simple and appealing enough for even very young readers to understand, this is a fascinating introduction to the subject of microbes - living things so tiny that millions could fit in a single dot.

Children will love exploring each beautifully-laid out page, looking out for the characters who recur on each spread - a boy, a girl and a cat. The perfectly-pitched text by award-winning author Nicola Davies conveys the information in a clear, friendly and accessible way, and Emily Sutton's charming illustrations are a real delight. This is an original, special and memorable book that sets the bar high for illustrated children's non-fiction.

About the author

Nicola Davies is the author of more than 50 books for children: fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her work has been published in more than 10 different languages and has won major awards in the UK, US, France, Italy and Germany.

Nicola trained as a zoologist, taking a degree in Natural Sciences from King's College, Cambridge. She spent some years as a field biologist and studied humpback and sperm whales, and bats, before joining the BBC Natural History Unit as a researcher and then presenter.

Following the start of her writing career, Nicola became a senior lecturer in creative writing, at Bath Spa University but has been writing full time for over a decade. She now regularly runs workshops for children and adults to help them find their voices as writers and advocates for nature. In 2017, she was the first recipient of the SLA’s award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Non-fiction and in 2018 had four picture books longlisted for the Greenaway Award.

Find out what Nicola Davies is up to as our Writer in Residence

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