What Was the Plague?

What was...?

by Roberta Edwards, Who H.Q., Dede Putra (Illustrator)

Oh, rats! It's time to take a deeper look at what caused the Black Death--the deadliest pandemic recorded in human history.

While the coronavirus COVID-19 changed the world in 2020, it still isn't the largest and deadliest pandemic in history. That title is held by the Plague. This disease, also known as the Black Death, spread throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe in the fourteenth century and claimed an astonishing 50 million lives by the time it officially ended. Author Roberta Edwards takes readers back to these grimy and horrific years, explaining just how this pandemic began, how society reacted to the disease, and the impact it left on the world.

With 80 black-and-white illustrations and an engaging 16-page photo insert, readers will be excited to read this latest additon to Who HQ!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical, School, Science

112 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2021

About the author

Roberta Edwards lives in New York, New York.

Reviews

[Daniel Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh… from 1000 AD to 1300 AD it was a prosperous period in the world. A lack of wars and a spreading world trade increased the population. In the mid-1350s, the black plague was spread by fleas. Starting in China, it spread throughout parts of Asia and Africa, and most of Europe. In 5-6 years, it killed 30-40% of the world’s population. There was no cure until antibiotics. The nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Roses” was thought to have described the plague. Roses (rashes), pockets full of posies (prevention), A-tishoo (sneeze) and we all fall down (death).

[Kristi Clemow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting. Wish it were a little longer

[Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I might just enjoy history too much but this was the funnest thing I’ve ever read

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent kids book about the plagues of the Middle Ages. Great information, respectively told.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned...
1/3 of Western Europe died! 25 million people. The plague killed the highest percent of people of any natural event in history. There were 3 strains, and bubonic plague was the least deadly--even with a 60% mortality rate! Pneumonic was 95% and killed people within 3 days of starting to cough. Septicemic was 100% and killed people within a day.
Beaked doctor masks were not a thing during the plague--they didn't show up until 300 years later.
Many people blamed Jews for the plague and killed them.
In 1666 London got another wave of the plague AND The Great Fire of London burned 90% of the buildings.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for grades 6-8 History. Previewed it for my students. Wow, that is a lot of information for a Young Adult history book.

[Jacklyn (ReadingBliss) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this for myself as well as my children. My children are a little on the young side, but I wanted to preread it to get an idea of the quality of the series and to see how appropriate I thought it was for my children and at what age it might be most compatible. As someone who was not taught about the Black Plague in school, I found it interesting and full of information to wet the pallet of a newbie wanting a broad but informative introduction to the topic. I would agree that it would be suitable for children who are 7+ in age. The language is easy for younger students to understand while getting an avid picture of the circumstances. For the younger, such as my 7 year old son, you might find yourself discussing details more fully depending on what captures the child’s attention, for a better understanding. I could easily see my child being interested in discussing the symptoms of each of the three types of the plague and even role playing since younger children enjoy playing out what they learn. I did not find the description to be too morbid or gruesome for a young child as long as you believe the child can handle the titles topic since it is a topic entirely about disease and death. This was one of two books in the series I purchased to try and I read them both in one sitting each in less than an hour. There are many pictures and the font is pleasing to a parent’s eyes. Please see my other review on The Great Depression for more thoughts on the series.

[JLS10 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these books even though they are short chapter books for kids. Sometimes I am just interested in finding out the basics of a topic and don’t care to go in-depth and read a 300-400 page book about it.

These books give me an overview, and I can decide if I want to learn more.

[Librariann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you think you came here for advance reviews of adult books and capslocking about romances? I'm sorry to disappoint, because I'm going hard on the middle grade leading up to summer reading at my library.

(Don't worry, I will continue to read as genre-erratically as always, and will surely post about completely different content quite soon.)

The WhoHQ books generally don't disappoint as overviews of a topic, and this was consistent with the series so far. You get a basic overview of the plague through history, with a focus on the middle-ages Black Death and scientific beliefs at the time. I got a reminder that the plague came in three forms: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. And we all felt lucky to live in a time when antibiotics exist.

Re: the cover - Mike dubbed it the best big head illustration he's seen on the series. He's not wrong.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the better Who HQ Books. I was pleasantly surprised how engaging it was after reading two disappointing ones in recent weeks. It was definitely kept my interest and was not all confusing in its format. I didn’t know that Ring Around the Rosie had its origins in the Black Plague. Creeeepy. Also I didn’t even know that the masked bird doctor thing wasn’t an actual thing. Neat. I also learned that Christians highly persecuted Jews during that time period which really sucks. And yes, I googled it and yeah that’s a thing. And, I didn’t know either that there were actually three different waves of the Plague. Oh, and I also had no idea that there were actually three different types of plague. I just had known about the bubonic.

[Connie T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and informative overview of both the plague and what life was like in the mid 1300s. Unfortunately, I found a few things confusing, contradictory, or misleading. For example, the author claims the plague started in China but then says it "first hit Ethiopia." The plague struck three times throughout history. This book refers to them as a first, second, and third pandemic. I found this misleading because it seems to imply that these were the only pandemics humanity has had to deal with.

[Melissa Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, although I shouldn't be (history nerd & I was a history major in undergrad).
I love how this book takes a complex topic in history and condenses it down for a child to understand, but without talking down to them! I'm glad I finally gave one of these books a try, because I will now be recommending them to our 7th and 8th graders who need hilo books.

[Elina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good it summed up all the information in a very nice easy way for me to understand. There are also real pictures, which is really cool. There plague was a disease that went spread to a lot of countries kind of like Covid. It was pandemic. Lots of lives were lost to this diseases because back then there weren’t many medicines or treatments yet. It was a very interesting topic and I was glued to my seat. 5/5

[JournalsTLY]

Assuming the target audience is grades 4-6 students - excellent book that introduces what bubonic plague is and what happened through the historical pandemics .

It also introduces the reader to the medieval society , the trade routes and also that development of western medical studies and practice .

Beautiful sketch drawings too.

And hurrah for Saint Roch !

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information! It definitely downplayed the role of religion in society's handling of the plague, but overall it paints a decent picture of various aspects of this disease. It's great that it has a bibliography, which is shockingly hard to find in non-fiction for younger audiences.

[Jamie Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, so informative and concise! It explains not only the plagues in Europe over several centuries but also the grim 300 years to follow before the Italian Renaissance that brought forth hope and beauty restored.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I realized how global this pandemic was. I wonder how the COVID pandemic compares. Especially with the fear fueling social media we have today but also the warning of instant news being constant and convenient.

as usual I do like the break down of details in these.

[Jenna Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book read with my kiddos! If it’s over 50 pages, it goes towards the Good Reads 😌

Super informative and I learned so much about the disease, but I will say, some of it was a bit graphic for a book that upper elementary students gravitate towards.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting. I read this to my children and they are very glad they live now instead of medieval times.

[Sarah Barkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was very interesting and informative.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea…. What a great history of not one plague but three. A great overview of pandemic plagues.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative and really puts things in perspective.

[K Morlando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative children's book, we enjoyed learning about this

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just kind of low on substance.

[Frances Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

✅️PRIMERA LECTURA 2023
◾️ESCOGIDO POR LA PORTADA
◾️DATOS MUY INTERESANTES, FOTOS
✔️RECOMENDADO

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t know there was more then one plague.

[Jen Traub · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much information1 loved the sidebars in this one.

[Maddie Vannoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely an educational book. However, it is not like the greatest book of all time, but I totally recommend it!

[Beth Cortez · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 8-year old is really into these books right now so I’m reading some of them once she’s done so we can discuss together. These books are fantastic and I always learn something from them!

[Natsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This serieds are one of the best bookds for Tadoku(多読). It's easy to read and we don't need to check a dictionary in case we find a word which don't understand.