Small Friends

These workshops combine storytelling, microscopy, drawing and games to explore symbiotic relationships between microbes and larger life forms.

Introducing… Small Friends Books

  • Zobi and the Zoox: A Story of Coral Bleaching

    With her home under threat from a warming ocean, Zobi, a brave rhizobia bacterium, teams up with a family of slow but steady Zoox (zooxanthellae). As the coral bleaches, everyone begins to starve...

  • The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon

    A story about the symbiotic relationship between the Hawaiian bobtail squid and the bioluminescent bacteria that help it glow in the moonlight.

  • Nema and the Xenos: A Story of Soil Cycles

    The tale of a tiny nematode worm, the bacteria that live inside her, and a tree being munched on by a grub.

  • The Forest in the Tree: How Fungi Shape the Earth

    Told by a fungal spore, this story explores the hidden relationships between plants, fungi and bacteria.

Learn More about the books

  • The Small Friends Books series tells stories about symbiotic partnerships between microorganisms and larger life forms

  • Combining cutting-edge science with engaging narrative and beautiful illustrations, each book contains a story and a science section, with accompanying Teacher Notes

  • Each story was developed collaboratively by a core creative team (Ailsa Wild, Aviva Reed, Briony Barr & Gregory Crocetti), with feedback from scientists, teachers and students, and support from the Australian Society for Microbiology

  • Copies of each book are available with school visits or online through CSIRO Publishing

Illustrated stories are a great starting point to learn new science, with each title in the series nurturing an appreciation for our small friends – from bacteria and viruses, to archaea, fungi, protozoa and algae.

The books can be used together to teach a unit on symbiosis, or individually, to explore some of the themes specific to each story, such as:

  • Food Webs

  • Life Cycles

  • Energy, Matter & Nutrient Cycles

  • Photosynthesis

  • Soil Ecology

  • Chemical Conversations

  • Coral bleaching

  • the Wood Wide Web

  • Nitrogen Fixation

Each workshop includes:

  • a reading of the story by co-author Dr. Gregory Crocetti

  • a Q&A session, exploring the science behind the story

  • an art activity, where students draw characters from the story (individual or collaborative format)

  • an interactive role-playing game OR projected microscope safari

As a co-creator and co-author of the Small Friends Books series, Gregory is also happy to discuss the entire process of making each book with students, from the original conception, research, writing, editing, storyboarding, illustration and layout.