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.

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Free Black History Month Coloring Sheets and…

Shark Week generally happens in July, but any time is a good time to learn more about sharks.

First, start with some fun whale facts like these from Kids Craft Room. Here I learned about the dwarf lantern shark, which is the smallest shark and only grows to about 6-8 inches (about 15-20 cm) long. It also emits light. How cool is that?

Natural Beach Living has some great printable shark information guides, where kids can learn about different kinds of sharks, match the facts to the pictures, or print out doubles and do a shark memory game.

Living Life an Learning has some great shark activity pages including the parts of a shark, types of sharks, a crossword puzzle and more. Also check out their parts of a shark and word scramble download, and a life cycle worksheet.

Learn about how sharks float with this great activity from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Need more facts about sharks? This fact pact from The WOLFe PACK on Teacher Pay Teachers includes fact sheets, a printable flip book, informational text, vocabulary, comprehension questions and more.

Living Montessori Now has a great collection of shark themed activities with a Montessori inspired twist. You’ll find a shark roll and cover, shark phonics and lots more shark activities Deb has collected from all over the Internet.

Remember the “Sharknado” movie? A Few Shortcuts turned the combination of sharks and tornadoes into a fun science activity. You’ll need a bottle connector for this project but otherwise should have everything you need on hand. Use their template to make your sharks out of aluminum foil. So fun!

You can also do some shark themed coloring with these coloring pages from Encouraging Moms at Home. Or make a cool 3D shark with this template from korkotak. And there are tons of different shark crafts collected in this post from Kids Activities Blog.

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