Evidence!: How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera

by Deborah Hopkinson, Nik Henderson (Illustrator)

Overview

The incredible true story of the doctor who traced London's cholera outbreak to a single water pump, and went on to save countless lives through his groundbreaking research!

Dr. John Snow is one of the most influential doctors and researchers in Western medicine, but before he rose to fame, he was just a simple community doctor who wanted to solve a mystery.

In 19th century London, the spread of cholera was as unstoppable as it was deadly. Dr. Snow was determined to stop it, but he had a problem: His best theory of how the disease was spread flew in the face of popular opinion. He needed evidence, and he needed to find it fast, before more lives were lost.

Taking on the role of detective as well as doctor, Dr. Snow knocked on doors, asked questions and mapped out the data he'd collected. What he discovered would come to define the way we think about public health to this day.

This compelling nonfiction picture book is a timely reminder of the power of science to save lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593426814
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.38(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of many highly acclaimed picture books, including A Letter to My Teacher, which received two starred reviews, and the modern classic Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, which the New York Times called "inspiring." Her other books include Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book; and Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book. She lives in Oregon with her family.

Nik Henderson was raised in Strafford, Missouri, where he still lives, and studied illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. He is the illustrator of Trucks on Trucks by Sorche Fairbanks, which Booklist praised for its "eye-catching" art. Evidence! is his second picture book.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/29/2024

“Welcome to Broad Street, in hot, stinky old London,” begins this enthralling 1854-set work focused on epidemiology, smartly pitched for younger audiences as an intriguing medical mystery. With urgent language and expressionistic drawings rendered in graphite and charcoal, and colored digitally, Hopkinson (Cinderella and a Mouse Called Fred) and Henderson (Trucks on Trucks) immerse readers in a close city neighborhood where deadly cholera has broken out: “Piles of horse dung line the streets. Sewage and human waste fill cesspools in yards and cellars.” Dr. John Snow (1813–1858) has long investigated cholera—he’s been “chasing it for years”and has a theory about the outbreak’s cause. That theory, however, flies in the face of prevailing medical and popular wisdom, which holds that cholera is airborne. In spreads that vividly evoke Snow’s relentless search across the city, he clearly becomes a “medical detective,” mapping cases and interviewing residents. When his work results in the handle being removed from the contaminated Broad Street pump, it’s a radiant, reverential moment, as befits “a milestone in science, a shining moment in the long fight against epidemics.” Back matter provides further context. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Chad W. Beckerman, CAT Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

★ "[An] enthralling 1854-set work focused on epidemiology, smartly pitched for younger audiences as an intriguing medical mystery." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A page-turning medical mystery that makes a compelling case for following the facts." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A detective-like story with clues and red herrings give this appeal to science-minded mystery lovers." —The Bulletin

From the Publisher

★ 2024-05-17
Dr. John Snow, “the father of modern epidemiology,” discovers the cause of cholera.

Behind every great scientist is evidence. When cholera broke out in London in 1854, most people blamed the “bad, smelly air” for the rapid spread of the disease. The English physician Dr. John Snow had a “bold hypothesis.” He had noticed that cholera’s symptoms included vomiting and diarrhea, so the cause was likely what the victims had ingested rather than something airborne. All he needed was evidence! With expert pacing, Hopkinson sets up Snow’s story as a medical mystery and a race against time. The doctor follows clues, gathers information about where the deceased people lived, plots his data on maps, notices clusters of disease, interviews local residents, and discovers the one thing the dead had in common: They had drunk from the same water pump. Henderson’s moody, expressionistic art captures Londoners’ confusion and concern, while Dr. Snow’s urgent pace is marked with literal dashes across city maps. Hopkinson nimbly acknowledges when she’s using conjecture—“We can guess the hard questions he must ask”—and makes clear when she’s presenting evidence: “This fact is helpful.” At the story’s climax, Dr. Snow presents his findings at a neighborhood meeting, and in a final, incandescent spread, the water pump’s handle is removed—“a milestone in science, a shining moment in the long fight against epidemics.”

A page-turning medical mystery that makes a compelling case for following the facts. (the case against the Broad Street pump, more information on Dr. Snow, list of major infectious diseases and their causes, internet resources, books on Dr. Snow and on epidemics) (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews