I LOVE reading about parasites. I ended up choosing Medical Microbiology and Immunology for my undergraduate degree because one of my cats had a tapeworm, and I was FASCINATED. My favorite class ever was Parasitology -- I loved memorizing their bizarre life cycles and collecting disturbing funfacts to spring on people.

Because of this background, many of the organisms were familiar favorites of mine -- like Toxoplasma gondii, Yersinia pestis, Dipylidium caninum, Dicrocoelium dendriticum (and the wasps that lay their eggs inside caterpillars (!!!)), but Dr. Wood's focus on marine ecology introduced me to many new organisms, which was fun! The illustrations were good - I kept laughing at how every animal was giving its parasite some side-eye. I do hope that in the final version there are a few more labels included in the illustrations - like noting the secondary host and what each lifecycle stage is called just to make it all super clear for younger readers.

Love the pronunciation guides throughout (though there were a few additional terms and Latin names that maybe should have been included) and appreciated the small glossary at the back. Clear, approachable language (lots of poop and butts) will make this appealing to kids. It does mention "sexual reproduction" in the context of worms -- this was very closed-door, zero spice, and 100% age-appropriate and very sciencey -- but since some people freak out about everything, I figured I should mention it (even though those people should calm down).

Overall, this book would be a fun addition to an elementary or middle school library - ages 10+