Book Review: Surviving Vesuvius

I don’t know why a lot of kids seem to get interested in lost civilizations and ancient mysteries, and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is not really a mystery but certainly an unusual story that can get kids interested in ancient history.

Surviving Vesuvius by Beth Waters and Christopher Harrisson is based on the account of Pliny the Younger, who witnessed the explosion when he was 17 years old and wrote about the ordeal years later to his friend Tacitus. It’s the only know surviving eyewitness account of the events that buried Pompeii and other seaside areas.

The citizens of Pompeii believed the god Vulcan’s forge resided in Mount Vesuvius, and the city had celebrated his feast day the day before the eruption began. At that time, people didn’t know Vesuvius was a volcano because it hadn’t erupted in 1,500 years. There were frequent earthquakes in the area, however, that had been growing in frequency and intensity since before Vesuvius blew.

The book walks through the events surrounding the eruption, checking in with real people who lived in Pompeii and elsewhere (though of course the actual events are dramatized, the general idea of what happened is outlined in Pliny’s letter).

It provides a good overview of what happened and how Pliny’s uncle, Pliny the elder, died after sailing closer to Vesuvius in an attempt to rescue friends. The book describes the social situation in the area, where enslaved people lived or died based on whether their masters decided to evacuate.

It also looks at what happened after the eruption. The towns that were buried by ash and debris were left and nature took back over, but excavations over hundreds of years, as well as using plaster to fill the ash molds of people left behind, have given us a glimpse into what life in Pompeii was like.

This book would be fun to add to a unit study of ancient Rome or for kids who have an interest in true mysteries from history.

About the book: 80 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $24.99.

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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