Cells at Work! Baby, vol. 1 by Yasuhiro Fukuda and Akane Shimizu (original creator)
Kodansha Comics / Kodansha USA
Publication Date: February 23, 2021
ISBN: 9781646512027
Cells at Work! Baby is a very cute spinoff of the Cells at Work! manga which turns the body’s cells into fun and quirky characters and takes the reader on a fun and informative journey of all the work it takes to keep a body healthy and functioning. In Cells at Work! Baby, the characters have all been reimagined as younger, more child-like versions of the characters found in the original and focuses specifically on the journey of what happens in a baby’s body during and after pregnancy. There are plenty of adventures to be had, and the book adds in real-life complications that might happen during childbirth and in infancy, including fluid in the lungs, a norovirus invasion, and heat rash—which brings another beloved character from the original into the story.
Cells at Work! Baby is a fun and scientific read, packed with accurate medical information alongside an adorable and easy-to-follow story. Occasionally, the medical jargon can be a little confusing, but the artwork does a great job of explaining what is going on and what all the characters are doing. While the information is factual and serious, the characters are anything but, which makes this book even better because—along with enjoying a fun, engaging, and often silly tale—the readers are also learning important facts about the human body at the same time.
Readers who enjoy this story may also like the original Cells at Work! series if they haven’t already read it, as well as The Manga Guide To Physiology by Etsuro Tanaka if they want more scientific but easy-to-read and engaging information about the human body.
—Denise Farley
Other Nominated Titles
- Love Me, Love Me Not, vol. 7 by Io Sakisaka (March 2, 2021)
- Little Witches: Magic in Concord by Leigh Dragoon (October 13, 2020)
- Djeliya by Juni Ba (July 6, 2021)
The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.
Each week, the teams will feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation will be listed as well. At year’s end, the team will use that list of nominated titles to select a final list and Top Ten. The previous years’ lists are also made available on The Hub.
