Plague by Jackie French, Bruce Whatley

Title: Plague

Author: Jackie French, Bruce Whatley

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st March 2023

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $26.99

Synopsis: From the award-winning creators of Flood, Fire, Cyclone, Drought, Pandemic and Earthquake … Grass and wheat-lands spread to the horizon, and so did we, with too few ibis to control us. We could rage across the land. We ate the grass, the leaves, the wheat …

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The latest in the picture book series by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley centring around various disasters that befall the world is Plague – about the locust plagues that devastate the grasses and wheats, the land and all the vegetation – and why. The story begins with the days before colonisation and moves through what happened after – how the landscape was altered so that bird that ate the locusts – the ibis – lost their homes and had to move away from where they would usually find their food. And so, without the ibis flocks, the locusts have been able to take over and this is why there have been more locust plagues in the country.

Yet again, Jackie French has taken a complex issue and woven it into a narrative that is accessible, informative and e entertaining – it allows readers to understand what is happening with the locusts without having to be overly scientific. It opens the door to further research and understanding for older readers, and is also useful for younger readers to help answer their questions about a locust plague if they see one. Jackie works magic in her words in all her books for all audiences – and I know that it is extremely hard to choose a favourite story that she has written.

Jackie has again teamed up with Bruce Whatley, and each time she does, his illustrations perfectly capture the story that is being told, and the tone of the illustrations works seamlessly with the words. It marries up so well, and so beautifully that it is the kind of story that can be understood on so many levels by a broad audience in a variety of contexts, including educational contexts across all ages.

One of my favourite things about the books that Jackie French writes is that she always incorporates real events, sometimes real people, into her work and ensures that she deals with them sensitively and with great understanding. There are so many layers to her work, that sometimes you need to re-read the books to appreciate and capture everything about them, which is one of the most enjoyable things about her books. I look forward to all of her books whenever she has a new one coming out, and I think this one is going to be used and read well.