Product Description

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 meant death for most of the Roman citizens living in Pompeii. But some people must have survived, and Christina Balit has used this as the starting-point for her story. It tells of Tranio, an actor's son, and his friend Livia, the baker's daughter, who witness the destruction of their beloved city.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149092 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

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

Customer Reviews

Escape with a beautiful book.
Christina Balit is an illustrator of beautiful children's books, two of her others have been nominated for the prestigious Kate Greenaway medal. Telling the story of how Tranio and his friend Livia escape from the volcanic eruption at Pompeii, this is a glorious book with stylised illustrations in richly antique colours. They vividly evoke the style of frescoes from Pompeii and other ancient sites.

Apart from this being a wonderful book to own in its own right, it would also be a great addition in a primary classroom when they are studying the Romans. Lots of teachers choose to read Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries to their classes and this would be a fabulous complement to that, letting children see what happened, and the story is enhanced by the illustrations to make a rich sensory experience. There's a map at the end to show where the events took place.

Fantastic
I lost my first copy of this book and still feel that a colleague saw it and wanted it for themselves. However, I bought a new copy to use with my new class. It is great in explaining the daily life of Romans from a kids point of view, and to offer a view point about the disaster. So many schemes recommend that the children write newspaper articles about such events. This offers a way into the story and offers information that they can use as if they were eye-witnesses themselves. Also contains great art ideas to use in Art lessons, especially its use of colour and pattern.