Download high-resolution image Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00

History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics

Illustrated by Falynn Koch
Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00
Myths! Lies! Secrets! Uncover the hidden truth about history's pandemics, from the Black Death to COVID-19. Perfect for fans of I Survived! and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales.

During the Black Death in the 14th century, plague doctors wore creepy beaked masks filled with herbs. RIGHT?
WRONG! Those masks were from a plague outbreak centuries later--and most doctors never wore anything like that at all!
 
With a mix of sidebars, illustrations, photos, and graphic panels, acclaimed author Kate Messner delivers the whole truth about diseases like the bubonic plague, cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, polio, influenza, and COVID-19.

Discover the nonfiction series that smashes everything you thought you knew about history! Don't miss History Smashers: The Mayflower, Women's Right to Vote, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, and American Revolution.
Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Her titles include award-winning picture books, like Over and Under the Snow; novels, like Breakout and Chirp; the Fergus and Zeke easy reader series and the popular Ranger in Time chapter books; and works of nonfiction with a focus on nature and history. Before becoming a full-time writer, Kate was a TV journalist and a National Board–certified middle school English teacher. She lives on Lake Champlain with her family and has managed to summit all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks between book deadlines.

Justin Greenwood is an artist best known for his work on comic book series, including Torrent, Area 510, Stumptown, Crone, The Last Siege, and The Fuse, and the nonfiction graphic novel Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and graduated with a BFA in traditional illustration. When he’s not drawing, you can find him hanging with his wife and kids around the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, pretending to pan for gold while trying to sneak an occasional nap. View titles by Kate Messner
  • AWARD
    NSTA-CBC - Outstanding Science Trade Book
  • SELECTION | 2022
    CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young Readers

About

Myths! Lies! Secrets! Uncover the hidden truth about history's pandemics, from the Black Death to COVID-19. Perfect for fans of I Survived! and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales.

During the Black Death in the 14th century, plague doctors wore creepy beaked masks filled with herbs. RIGHT?
WRONG! Those masks were from a plague outbreak centuries later--and most doctors never wore anything like that at all!
 
With a mix of sidebars, illustrations, photos, and graphic panels, acclaimed author Kate Messner delivers the whole truth about diseases like the bubonic plague, cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, polio, influenza, and COVID-19.

Discover the nonfiction series that smashes everything you thought you knew about history! Don't miss History Smashers: The Mayflower, Women's Right to Vote, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, and American Revolution.

Author

Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Her titles include award-winning picture books, like Over and Under the Snow; novels, like Breakout and Chirp; the Fergus and Zeke easy reader series and the popular Ranger in Time chapter books; and works of nonfiction with a focus on nature and history. Before becoming a full-time writer, Kate was a TV journalist and a National Board–certified middle school English teacher. She lives on Lake Champlain with her family and has managed to summit all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks between book deadlines.

Justin Greenwood is an artist best known for his work on comic book series, including Torrent, Area 510, Stumptown, Crone, The Last Siege, and The Fuse, and the nonfiction graphic novel Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and graduated with a BFA in traditional illustration. When he’s not drawing, you can find him hanging with his wife and kids around the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, pretending to pan for gold while trying to sneak an occasional nap. View titles by Kate Messner

Awards

  • AWARD
    NSTA-CBC - Outstanding Science Trade Book
  • SELECTION | 2022
    CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young Readers

2024 Elementary School Collection

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, DK, and Grupo Editorial, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled Readers,

Read more

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

Thank you for your interest in DK Learning | Phonic Books. To download the DK Learning | Phonic Books sampler with four complete readers, please click here and complete the form. Once your information is successfully submitted, a link to download the sampler will be provided on the confirmation screen.   Click here to learn

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

PRH Education Classroom Libraries

“Books are a students’ passport to entering and actively participating in a global society with the empathy, compassion, and knowledge it takes to become the problem solvers the world needs.” –Laura Robb   Research shows that reading and literacy directly impacts students’ academic success and personal growth. To help promote the importance of daily independent

Read more