What Was the Plague? by Roberta Edwards

What Was the Plague? Reviews

• 
  Lynn

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

  Extremely interesting. Wish it were a little longer
• 
  Dean

  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)

  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

  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

  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.
• 
  Melissa Carroll

  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.
• 
  Emma

  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

  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.
• 
  Tina

  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

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

  Interesting and informative and really puts things in perspective.
• 
  K Morlando

  Informative children's book, we enjoyed learning about this
• 
  Alex

  Just kind of low on substance.
• 
  Frances Torres

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

  Didn’t know there was more then one plague.
• 
  Jen Traub

  So much information1 loved the sidebars in this one.
• 
  Alicia

  It makes for great lunch time reading for sure, a book about the plague. But it's a trusted source, the upper elementary and middle grade specific stories from the WhoHQ series and this one has plenty of interest currently with the pandemic.
  
  The focus on the black plague explains the three kinds of plague (bubonic, pneumatic, and septicemic) and specifically the deadly era of 1345-1351. The book does well to explain the history of war that led to the lull and somewhat prosperous time before the plague hit spread by rat fleas and how it consumed the areas as it spread through the trade and travel routes. This one includes a spread of glossy images inserted into the book, which is the first time I've seen that in one of the series. It works, but the illustrations inserted into the book as standard fare were enough. It was a bit of a bonus.
  
  It covers a lot of ground which I liked.
• 
  Semih Sen

  Short and easy book to read about a terrible time in our timeline. This book tells you about the Plague that shocked the world. One of the three plagues is told about in this book, like how the plague left people with no priests, doctors, merchants, slaves, tradesman, and families. Read about how this plague dominated giant empires around the world.