Escape from Pompeii

by Christina Balit

Overview

Travel back in time to view the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the Roman Empire.

Join Tranio, the son of an actor, and his friend Livia, the baker's daughter, in witnessing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. Tranio, like most Roman boys, likes to watch whatever is going on: tradesmen selling their goods, ships unloading their exotic cargoes, politicians making speeches in the forum. But one hot August day a very different scene unfolds. The ground begins to shake, the sky to darken. Heading for the harbor, Tranio and his friend Livia hide on a boat and witness one of the most terrifying moments in recorded history-the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of their beloved city, Pompeii.

Although this book handles the sensitive subject of a tragic natural disaster, this book perfectly pitched for years 2 and 3. It is great in explaining the daily life of Romans from a child's point of view.

Perfect for first and second graders, studying the Romans in school.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845070595
Publisher:	Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication date:	02/26/2013
Edition description:	New
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	NC920L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Christina Balit was born in Manchester but grew up in the Middle East. She studied at Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art, and also attended Morley Theatre School and Questors Theatre School. She has exhibited widely and is also a playwright. Her books have won several nominations, commendations and a shortlist place for the Kate Greenway Medal. Kingdom of the Sun (written by Jaqueline Mitton), won the 2002 English Association Award for non-fiction.

To learn more about Christina Balit click here

Editorial Reviews

"On the hillside overlooking the sparkling bay of Naples, the Roman city of Pompeii glimmered in the sunlight. From his window, young Tranio listened to the noise humming from bars, taverns, and shops around him . . . Beyond the massive city walls he could see Pompeii's greatest protector looming in the distance. They called it Vesuvius, the Gentle Mountain."
— from the book

From the Publisher

Featuring a rich assemblage of patterns and textures and a pleasing palette of earth tones and variegated blues, Balit's (Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City) three-quarter spread illustrations dominate this vivid story about the destruction of Pompeii. As the tale opens, a youth named Tranio gazes from his window at Vesuvius, ironically described as Pompeii's "greatest protector... the Gentle Mountain." Through Tranio's eyes, Balit introduces the city's bustling harbor, where merchants and fisherman unload their ships; the forum, where politicians deliver speeches and poets perform; and a theater, where Tranio's father and other masked actors rehearse a pantomime. At this last site, Tranio feels tremors and rushes out into the chaotic street, and sees the air fill with ash. He and his friend Livia climb aboard a Greek cargo ship, where, "in one terrible endless moment, they heard mighty Mount Vesuvius roar. Its top exploded in a scream, and flames ripped upward to the sky." From a safe distance, the two watch molten liquid flow down the mountain into the city and destroy "everything and everyone they had ever loved." A conclusion presents Tranio and Livia many years later as they stand on the once-again fertile mountainside, portrayed in cross-section to show the city, and the people, buried beneath. A dramatic, visually exciting look at a cataclysmic event. Ages 6-9. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 1-4-There really is no way to sugarcoat the loss and destruction that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius wrought in A.D. 79, and those children who thrive on disasters will get a taste of the effects of the inferno in this fictionalized account. The narrative follows the comings and goings of a boy and girl against the hustle and bustle of the Roman port. In stylized scenes rendered in blues and terra-cotta, Tranio notes the activity on the docks, at the forum, and during his father's play rehearsal until the first tremors are felt. As columns split and actors freeze in place, the boy takes off to find his friend. At first they laugh at the frenzy, but as breathing becomes more difficult, the children flee to a boat. The explosion is presented in a dramatic spread with a fiery-red center and layers of billowing clouds as viewed from the sea. The final scene depicts the two (now aged) survivors, returned from Greece to lay flowers on their buried city as they wonder if future generations will remember it. A cross section of the underground reveals the bodies and buildings; an afterword provides a bit of history. Shelley Tanaka's The Buried City of Pompeii (Hyperion, 1997) offers a longer story as well as sidebars with facts and photographs. Both books provide an introduction to this tragic but fascinating city.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

A sketchily told, if more elaborately illustrated, tale of Pompeii's destruction as witnessed by two young natives. When the city's formerly bright, bustling streets begin to fill with ash and choking gasses, Tranio and Livia run for the harbor, to stow away aboard a departing merchant vessel. Later, they watch from the deck as Vesuvius, "Gentle Mountain," blows its top, sending "streams of molten liquid" over "a nearby town," before burying Pompeii. In contrast to the rather sparsely detailed text, Balit draws every Pompeiian cobblestone and street sign with fussy precision, meanwhile capturing a sense of period by placing robed human figures topped with tight ringlets in stylized poses. She closes with a large-scale map and a small-type description of Pompeii's modern excavation. A few morsels of fact, a few of story: likely only to whet readers' appetites for fuller accounts, such as Shelley Tanaka's Buried City of Pompeii (1997). (Historical fiction/picture book. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews